


Tales of Republic City: Part One

by OurImpavidHeroine



Series: The Abdication of Hou-Ting LIV or: How Wu Learned to Stop Being Foolish and Love the Detective [7]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Multi, One Shot Collection, Post-Canon, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2018-08-22 23:44:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 30,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8305739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurImpavidHeroine/pseuds/OurImpavidHeroine
Summary: A collection of one-shot stories set in my post-series and post-canon Wuko universe.
No rhyme or reason to them; sometimes they just come to me, sometimes people request them, sometimes they are scenes that don't make it through cuts. I'll just post them as I write them!
These one-shots will be kept in chronological order. Part One covers the time from when Mako and Bolin were small boys all the way up through A Song Of Spring And Autumn.





	1. A Promised Sacrifice: Mako and Bolin Run Away From The Orphanage

**Author's Note:**

> (Some of these drabbles were already posted in my [Bits and Pieces; Dribs and Drabs](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4068133/chapters/9157390) collection and have been moved here for ease of reading.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako and Bolin make their way into the streets after the death of their parents.

The head of the orphanage stood in the yard, peering until she found the boy with the red scarf. “Mako!” she called, watching as he turned his head. She motioned him towards her and he came reluctantly. His younger brother, as always, trotted alongside him, clutching his hand. “Just Mako this time,” she said, and ruffled little Bolin’s hair. “You go on back and play, okay?”

Bolin’s eyes immediately went to Mako, who nodded. “It’s okay.” Bolin ran back through the snow-covered yard to where the few rusty swings were, calling out to the other children. 

“Come into my office for a moment, would you?” She opened the door and led him through one of the dim hallways.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked and she shook her head.

“No, not at all.” She closed the office door behind him and nodded at the chair at the other side of her desk. She took her own seat and held out a tin to him. “Would you like a cookie?”

He stared at the tin for a long moment and then took out a cookie, immediately putting it into his pocket.

“Don’t you want the cookie?”

“I’ll save it for my brother.” He sat on the edge of the chair, long legs dangling. Silent, as usual. He was not a particularly verbose child, unlike his younger brother.

“Now then! I brought you in here because I have some wonderful news!” She smiled at him. “Do you remember the people who were visiting earlier today? The man and his wife?”

Mako nodded.

“Well, they have a small farm some distance outside the city and today they came all the way here just to look for a child to take home to love. Isn’t that wonderful?” She beamed at him, but the boy didn’t smile back. Sullen, as usual.

“Hong Li and his wife are both earthbenders, as it happens, and they’ve been unable to have any children. Such a pity. They were hoping they could find a nice strong earthbending child to take home with them. And here’s the most wonderful part! After taking a tour and meeting all of you children, they have decided that Bolin is the child they’d like to adopt.” She sat back with a smile. “Isn’t that the best news? Just think! There are some children who stay here for years without getting adopted; you and Bolin have only been here a few months. It’s a wonderful opportunity, don’t you agree?”

He stared at her. He was an unsettling child; he rarely smiled, and as far as she knew, never cried. The one time they’d tried to take the red scarf away from him he’d started screaming and thrashing, shooting fire. He was a very powerful child. Of course she never liked to lock children away in the quiet room but on that particular day she’d had no choice, no choice at all. His brother had carried on so, however; crying and resting his little hands on the door to the quiet room, begging Mako to come out. It was heartbreaking, really. Mako was otherwise obedient, so for now she let him keep the scarf. After all it only had been a few months since his parents had been killed. Allowances must be made.

“What about me?”

“Beg pardon?” She forced the smile back on. He really was unnerving with that resolute amber gaze. It was hard to remember sometimes that he was only eight years old.

“Are they taking me too?”

“Hmmm. Well, you see, the thing is, Mako, is that they really only need Bolin. Why, what would they do with a firebender there? How could they train you?” She shook her head. “No, it’s only Bolin that they need.”

“They can’t take Bolin without me. We’re brothers.”

She frowned at him. “Mako, that is a very selfish thing to say. Don’t you want what is best for your brother? Just think what an opportunity this is for him. He’ll have a wonderful home! He’ll get schooling as well as earthbending training. He’ll get to live in the fresh air of the countryside, get plenty to eat and his own room. And best of all, he’ll have a new mother and father!”

“He has a mother and father. Our mother and father.”

She sighed. “Mako, you are only thinking of yourself. Bolin is very young. Within a few years he won’t remember much of this time and that will be a good thing for him.”

“You mean he won’t remember me, either.”

“Oh! No, I’m sure he’ll have pleasant memories of you.”

“You mean wonderful ones.” Those eyes smoldered at her. His hands were clenched into tight fists.

“Mako!” He really was an obstinate child! “I’ll thank you to mind your tone with me. Now really, that’s enough of this foolishness. This is an excellent opportunity for your brother. You should be happy for him.” She was repeating herself. Really, it was uncanny how this child made her feel almost defensive.

“I promised my Mama I would always look after him. I promised.” He leaned forward in the chair.

“And so you have. And now a new family will look after him.” She rested her hands on the desk. 

“No.” His breath had quickened; he was trembling.

“I am afraid that choice is not yours to make. You and your brother are wards of the state now and the state has decided that your brother is to be adopted. Come now. They wanted to take him today but I told them you’d need a last night together.” She sighed. “I’m not a cruel woman, you know. Say your goodbyes tonight. And who knows! There may be new parents in store for you very soon!” She doubted it, though. Not with his attitude. People wanted cute orphans. Cheerful orphans. Happy orphans, like his younger brother. They didn’t want sullen boys who refused to enjoy anything. 

“We’ll run away,” he hissed, chin trembling. “We’ll run away from here.”

“And do what? How do you think you would live out there?” She shook her head sorrowfully. “Where do you think you would sleep?” She waved her hand at the window. “There’s snow out there. And how would you feed yourselves? Mako, you are not old enough to take care of yourself, no less your brother.” She sighed. “Sometimes, in life, we have to make sacrifices for the greater good. You think of it as sacrificing your brother, but that’s not it at all. Bolin will have a good life. He’ll be cared for and loved. He’ll have plenty of opportunities. He’ll never have that with you out there on the streets. I know you want what’s best for your brother. Can’t you sacrifice a little of your own happiness for him? If you really loved him you would.”

He said nothing. He gazed at her, unflinching, until she became uncomfortable. She stood up abruptly and walked to the door. “Well. I think we’ve said all that needs to be said. You and Bolin are excused from chores this evening. Tomorrow morning we’ll introduce him to his new parents. They have a bit of a way to travel, so they’ll be leaving early.” He hadn’t moved. “Mako, you can go now. Go on, now.” 

He stood up and walked to the door. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the cookie. Still watching at her, he crumbled it up in his hand before letting the crumbs fall to the floor. On then did he walk out, back towards the play yard, never looking back. 

  
She was sorry, the next morning, when the matron reported that the boys were missing from the dormitory and that a hole small enough for two boys to wriggle through had been burned into the wooden fence surrounding the property. Sorry, but not at all surprised.


	2. A Natal Celebration: Bolin Turns Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bolin's birthday on the street.

“Keep your eyes shut,” Mako said, and he gave Bolin’s ankle a nudge with his own foot. “Quit trying to peek.”

“I’m not! I’m not! But Mako, I’m really excited! Is it something good? Oh! Is it something bad?” Bolin squirmed a little on the crate he was sitting on, hands clutched over his eyes. “Can I look yet?”

“Since when do I give you anything bad? And no, not yet. Just wait.” Mako finished arranging things on the small cardboard box he’d set up as a table. He pursed his lips slightly; with a nod he leaned over and lit the lone candle with his finger. “Okay. Now you can look.”

Bolin’s hands dropped from his eyes and he looked down at the box; with a chortle of glee he clapped his hands. “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wowsers! Hey! Mako! Is that for me?”

“Yeah.” Mako smiled down at him, pleased. On the box in front of Bolin was a very small but elaborate cake, covered with dips and swirls of shiny pink icing. It had a single candle sticking out of it. Next to that was a large take-out container full of noodles. Set precisely to the side was a red envelope as well as a package wrapped in some colorful tissue paper, carefully scavenged and tied up with a discarded hair ribbon.

“I can eat it?” Bolin’s grubby hand reached out towards the cake before he snatched it back, looking up at Mako. “It’s really for me?”

“Happy Birthday, Bo. You’re ten years old today.”

Bolin’s mouth opened up into a nearly perfect O of surprise. “It is? It’s my birthday?”

“Yeah, you goof. Today. You’re ten. Now quit talking and make a wish so you can blow out your candle.”

“Oh Mako, I don’t know what to wish for. Oh! I could wish for a million yuan! Or wait, no, maybe some new shoes. Oh! I know! I could wish for an ostrich horse!”

“What would you do with an ostrich horse? You don’t even know how to ride one.”

Bolin held up one finger in triumph. “But if I had one then I’d learn to, right?”

Mako couldn’t help smiling at that. “Sure. If you say so. Come on, blow it out before it burns out.”

“Right, that would be unlucky. Okay, hold on.” Bo screwed his eyes shut, thinking hard. “Oh! I know!” He leaned forward and huffed a great breath at the candle, watching it wink out before clapping his hands. “Now I know my wish will come true! Do you want to know what I wished for? Do you?”

“You’re not supposed to tell me.”

“Well, I’ll tell you anyhow. I wished that this year you could go to school. Because you really want to, even though you tell me you don’t care. I know you do, though.”

Mako pointed. “Just eat the noodles. And next time wish for yourself, not me.”

Bolin took up the take-out container and the chopsticks. “Longevity noodles! For my birthday! Did I ever eat these before?” He shoveled an alarming amount into his mouth.

“Yeah, you’ve had them before, you just don’t remember.” Mako remembered, though.

“Oooh wanshome?” Bolin’s mouth was full.

“Naw, I already ate. You eat those. It’s your birthday.” Mako squatted down on the pavement and watched his brother gulping down the noodles. He hadn’t actually eaten anything at all that day, but it didn’t matter. 

He knew Bo was too skinny. Back when Mama and Daddy were still alive, Bolin had been chubby, with round cheeks and a little belly. Daddy used to rub Bolin’s belly; for luck, he’d say, and laugh and laugh, Bolin laughing right along with him. 

Mako couldn’t remember how it felt when you weren’t hungry. Hungry was just there, all the time. He tried and tried to get Bolin enough food so that he’d have a belly to rub for luck, but it was hopeless. It was all hopeless, sometimes. 

“Can I open my presents?” Bolin had finished the noodles, his lips shiny with grease. Mako’s stomach rumbled. He ignored it.

“Course.” Mako smiled, just a little smile.

“Okay, I’ll open the envelope first…lessee…it’s…” Bolin looked at him, eyes wide. “Mako,” he whispered, “There’s ten whole yuan in here.” His fingers caressed the crisp new bill reverently. Mako had been scrounging together money for months for this day, gathering coins as he could, squirreling them away. Yesterday he’d gone into the National Republic Bank and asked to trade them in for a new bill. He was afraid they would kick him out; he’d tried to tidy up as best he could before he went in, but he knew he still looked like street trash, ragged and dirty. One of the tellers tried to show him the door but another one called him over and waited patiently while Mako counted out the coins one by one. When he was done, the man handed him a ten yuan bill and asked him if he needed a red envelope. Mako was so grateful he was rendered speechless. He’d thought he’d have to use his hoarded money to buy one, and this man offered him one for free. “Yes, please,” he managed to say and the man smiled as he handed it to him.

“It’s for you. You can get whatever you want with it. But only for you, okay? It’s unlucky to get anything for anyone else.” He knew he had to say it or else Bolin would end up buying candy and giving it all away. He was always generous to a fault. “But put it someplace safe so it doesn’t get lost or stolen, okay?”

“I could put it in my underwear,” said Bolin. “Or in my shoe!” He lifted up his shoe to tuck the bill in.

“You have a hole in your shoe,” Mako said. “Put it in that secret pocket I made for you in the hem.”

“Good idea!” said Bolin, and he carefully stowed it away into the aforementioned pocket in his tunic. “Can I open the other one?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Mako was excited for him to see this one. Bolin carefully took away the ribbon and tissue paper.

“Oh boy!” he said. “It’s a book!”

“Read the title. No, it’s missing the front cover, read the next page.”

Bolin ran his finger along the characters as he read slowly. “An…earthbender…ev…ev…ev…”

“Evolves,” prompted Mako.

“What does that mean?”

“It means grows into something better.”

“Oh! Okay! An earthbender ev…”

“Evolves…”

“Evolves…the…true…story…of…Toph…Beifong! Toph Beifong! Mako!” Bolin bounced up and down on the crate, hugging the book to his chest. “Did you get me a book about Toph Beifong?”

Mako grinned. “Yeah. There are pictures too, look!”

Bolin paged through the book. “OH WOW! Mako! Look! That was her as a baby!” He leapt up from his seat and threw his arms around his brother. “Mako! It’s the best birthday present ever! Will you read it to me? Will you?”

Mako hugged him back. “Yeah. Eat your cake and then I will.”

Bolin sat back down and ran a finger through the pink icing, popping the finger into his mouth. “Mako, this is the nicest cake I’ve ever seen. I’m afraid to eat it.”

Mako gave him a little shove. “Better do it before it goes bad.”

Bolin picked the cake up and took a bite, closing his eyes. “Oh. Oh.” He chewed and two tears slipped out of his closed eyes, tracking down his thin cheeks. “I never tasted anything so good in my whole entire life. Not ever!” His eyes opened. “Mako you have to take a bite!”

“No, I don’t-”

Bolin’s chin thrust out. “I won’t eat any more unless you do.” Mako knew that look. Bolin, when he was in the mood, could be so stubborn he wouldn’t budge an inch.

“But Bo, it’s yours.” Bolin held the cake out silently, waiting. Mako sighed. Bolin continued to hold out the cake. “Okay, fine. Just one bite, though. It’s yours.” He took a bite.

It was good. It was so good. It tasted like how life used to be, how life was in the little house on Peony Avenue, like Mama singing while she did things around the house, like Daddy shaking the bed with his earthbending under Mako and Bolin while they giggled, like the swing in the backyard and Mako lining up all of his brand new pencils for his first day of school. He wanted it back. He wanted the house and the school and the swing and oh, he wanted Daddy and his big booming laugh and the way he called Mako  _Sparks_  and more than anything else he wanted his Mama. His Mama who always smoothed his hair back when he was sad or didn’t feel good, his Mama who helped him read the big words, his Mama who was never too busy to stop whatever she was doing and wrap him into a big hug, his Mama who loved him even though he wasn’t cute and funny like Bolin always was. Mama.  _Mama_. His throat closed up around the sweetness and he felt the tears coming, threatening to spill onto his own cheeks. He wanted it back. He wanted it all back, more than he had ever wanted anything in his entire life.

He swallowed it. The cake, his grief, his constant ceaseless crushing fear. He pushed it all away, shoved it back down, locked it up good and tight, hidden into his heart. He dredged up a smile for his baby brother, looking up at him anxiously. “Pretty good cake, huh?”

Bolin’s face brightened. “It sure is! Hey! I have an idea! How about I eat the rest of this while you read me some of the book? Can we do it? Is it okay?”

“It’s great, Bo. Come over here, sit next to me.” He sat down on one of their carefully flattened pieces of cardboard, taking the book with him. Bolin snuggled next to him, a pink smear of frosting across his cheek. “Yum,” said Mako, and he swiped at the frosting with his tongue. Bolin giggled and wrapped an arm around him, resting his head on Mako’s shoulder, taking slow bites of the cake. 

“It was in the city of Gaoling…” Mako read slowly, and Bolin wriggled with joy against him.


	3. An Elevated Afternoon: Mako and Bolin Fly Kites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spring day and some kites; what could be better?

“Hey, Mako!”

Mako grunted a response as he finished writing down the figures, holding up his left forefinger as a warning. He glanced up once he’d finished. “What?”

“Your brother’s looking for you. He says it’s life or death.” Tug opened his mouth and issued a belch that reeked of rotting teeth. Mako’s nose wrinkled up in disgust.

“Yeah, well. He probably has a hangnail or something.” Mako sighed and tapped his finger on the paper. “Where is he?”

“Over in the Park. By the north bridge, last time I saw him.”

“Fine. Thanks.” Mako hopped off the stool and walked over to Shady Shin, lounging in the corner, using a penknife to trim his nails. “Here.”

Shin glanced at the paper. “You sure those are right? Why can’t you use an abacus like the rest of the world?”

“I don’t need an abacus. My numbers have never been wrong.”

Shin leaned over and tousled Mako’s hair, a move that earned him a vicious glare. Shin just laughed. “You’re such a cocky little shit, aren’t you? If you weren’t Zolt’s little pet I might think about taking offense at your attitude.”

Mako shrugged one shoulder. “You’re welcome to find anybody else who can do what I do with numbers.”

Shin waggled his penknife at him. “Better go find your brother before you start to piss me off.”

Mako shrugged again and headed out of the Triple Threat’s headquarters at a trot. Shin didn’t like him; fine. The feeling was mutual. He grabbed a couple of steamed buns from the kitchen as he slipped out the back door, ignoring the outraged shout of the cook.

Republic City Park was only a few blocks away and Mako jogged the distance, shifting the too-hot buns from hand to hand. 

“Yo, Mako! Bolin’s lookin’ for ya!” Chu waved at him.

“Yeah, I heard. You know where he is?”

Chu pointed. “Over by the north bridge, I think.”

Mako waved as he went past. “Thanks.”

“Mako! Over here! Over here!” He turned to see Bolin in the distance, jumping up and down, waving at him with both hands. He immediately wheeled around and headed over to him.

“So where’s the fire?” Mako asked, and he tossed Bolin one of the steamed buns. Bolin immediately stuffed it into his mouth.

“Mo fiher, juss wanno so wu fomfin.” A few crumbs sprayed from his mouth and the bun was gone.

“Life or death, huh?” Mako took a bite of his own bun. It was still warm.

“I have a surprise for you! You’re gonna love it!” Bolin danced around in excitement. “It’s great! Really great! You ready to see it?”

Mako sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

“Oh come on, Mr. Serious. Give me a little smile. Will it kill you?”

“It might,” Mako grumbled, shoving the rest of the bun into his mouth. Bolin reached into a nearby bush and carefully pulled out two slightly battered kites. He was grinning hugely; bouncing up and down on his toes the way he did when he was happy about something. “Look! Do you see! Kites!”

“Where did you get those?”

“Found ‘em,” Bolin said, and he rattled them a bit. “They were dumped over behind Shao’s House Of Noodles. They were a little bit busted but I fixed them, see?” He brandished them towards Mako. “I fixed them and made them new tails and bartered for some string for them.” He thrust one out at Mako. “This one’s for you. Look! I drew on it!”

Mako took the kite and looked down at it. There were a great deal of crooked red swirls which he assumed was meant to be flames. He wasn’t sure about the other thing, though. Possibly a gray carrot? A fuzzy tube? A weird finger?

“That’s you firebending!” Bolin pointed. “I made it specially for you! This one is mine, see? That’s me earthbending.” It looked like a bunch of brown turds, but Mako wasn’t going to say so.

“This is…pretty cool, Bro.”

Bolin beamed. “Really? You really think so? You aren’t just saying it?”

Mako realized he wasn’t just saying it. He really did think they were cool. “Do they fly?”

Bolin’s head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. “Uh huh! Well. At least I think they do. We should try them and see!” He bounced up and down again. “So what do you say? Kite war? Huh?” 

Mako looked down at his kite. “I want to, Bo, I really do, but I’m supposed to start my rounds pretty soon.”

Bolin’s entire body drooped. “But…but...I fixed them. So we could play with them.”

“Aren’t you a little old to be playing with kites?” Mako meant it as a joke, but Bolin wasn’t laughing. His eyes filled up with tears, and he clutched the kite carefully to his chest.

“I’m twelve years old. I’m supposed to be playing with kites.”

“Bo…” Mako frowned. “Don’t be like that. I want to play with the kites. I do. But…”

“No.” Bolin shook his head firmly. “No. No buts. No buts, no excuses, no I have to works or I can’t do it right nows.” He leaned forward and poked Mako in the chest. Pretty hard, too. “I’m not listening to any of that. It’s windy today, but not too windy. The sun is out. The snow is all gone, and we have two kites and we are going to have a kite war and I am going to kick your booty.”

Mako raised one eyebrow. “Dream on, little man. Dream on.”

Bolin pasted on his best regretful face. “That’s me. A dreamer. Can’t help it. Still gonna kick your firebending booty.”

“I’m hearing a lot of talking but looks to me like your kite is still on the ground,” Mako said, leaning in until he was nose to nose with his brother. “Bring it,” he said in his best menacing tone, and the look of utter joy on Bolin’s face made him grin and drop a kiss on his forehead.

In the end Mako had to launch Bolin’s kite for him; Bo just couldn’t run fast enough to gather the velocity needed to make it take off. Once he had Bolin’s kite in the air he quickly put his own up there, gray carrot and all. They ran across the park, shouting and laughing, kites swooping and dancing through the sky. At one point they collided into each other and Bolin dropped the stick his string was wound around; it skittered and bounced away as Bolin cried out in dismay. Mako thrust his own stick into his brother’s hands, running as fast as he could after the kite, slip-sliding a bit in the soft earth, grabbing and missing several times before he threw his body on top of the string, laughing breathlessly. Bolin galloped up, feet pounding solidly into the ground, dropping himself right on top of Mako, who let out a wheezy exhale.

“You trying to kill me?” Mako puffed out, still managing to hold on to Bolin’s string. Bolin scooted off of him to lay next to him, holding on to Mako’s kite. They lay there for a time in silence, pressed against each other, watching the sky.

“Mako?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you like the kite?”

“I love it,” Mako answered, and Bolin pressed in a little closer.

“Really and truly?”

Mako smiled. “Really and truly.”

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“Hold mine for a second,” Bolin said, and Mako carefully took his string, balancing both kites. Bolin sat up to feel around his pockets, pulling out a little red-striped candy bag.

“Where did you get that?” Mako stared at him .

“Ran some errands, got some coins.” Bolin waved the bag in a circle. “Peppermint for me, butterscotch for you.” He dug into the bag and pulled out a pale yellow candy. “Open wide!” He dropped the candy into Mako’s mouth before popping a piece into his own mouth. Candy being dispensed, he lay back down, reaching his hands out for the string. Mako gave him back the firebending kite.

They lay for a time there, sucking the candy slowly to make it last, pulling on the strings to keep the kites undulating high above them.

“Mako?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you glad you stayed to play with me?”

Mako turned his head to look at his brother. “Yeah.”

“You’re my best friend,” Bolin said. “I really love you a lot.”

“I love you, too.”

“Was it a good surprise?”

“Bo, it was the best surprise.”

“Was I really using my noodle?”

Mako tapped him gently on the head with the kite stick. “Sure were.”

“Yeah,” Bolin said happily, and Mako smiled.


	4. A Surge Of Intensity: Mako Learns To Bend Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako gets pointers on lightning bending from Lightning Bolt Zolt.

The acrid stink of ozone hit him again as he let the lightning stream from his left hand. It crackled and hissed as it spattered across the vacant lot, blue light blazing. It still wasn’t going where he wanted it to; it was taking too long to generate. He’d seen Zolt call up lightning in under five seconds; Mako wanted to be even faster than that.

“Take a breather.” 

Mako glanced over to see Zolt standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Zolt jerked his chin towards where the lightning struck. “You don’t watch yourself, you’re going to deplete yourself of all your chi. Do that in a fight, you’re fucked sideways. You gotta think before you bend. Make it count.”

Mako looked down at his hands. “I’m still not quick enough.”

Zolt scoffed. “Boy, you’ve been bending lightning for two weeks. There’s a learning curve, you follow?”

“I want to get better.”

“Don’t we all.” Zolt pushed himself away from the wall. “Here. Let your chi charge back up for awhile. I’ll throw, you catch. You ready?”

Mako dropped into a waiting stance.

“Shut your eyes.”

Mako stared at him. “I can’t do that. I won’t be able to see it coming.”

“You think every firebender that throws it at you is going to give a shit if you can see it coming? You know better. I ain’t gonna hit you, boy. I’m not known for killing fourteen year olds. I just want you to close your eyes and listen.”

Mako regarded Zolt warily before closing his eyes. He was nervous; Zolt wasn’t known for killing kids, true, but he wasn’t known for being particularly big-hearted, either. Mako still wasn’t sure why Zolt was taking the time to show him all of this. “Nothing for nothing,” he always told Bolin, and if he knew anything at all, he knew that Zolt had to want something from him. What, though, that’s what Mako wasn’t sure about.

He tasted it first; that bitter tang that coated his throat and always signaled when his own lightning was starting to generate. He jolted up and swung his head around.

“Knock that shit off. You tense up before bending, you’re wasting time and wasting chi. What do I keep telling you? Save the energy for the bending. Save that temper of yours, too. Any fucking firebender can lose his temper and burn somebody. The good ones, they keep their cool. Now. Do as I say. Relax and listen.”

Mako shook out his shoulders, tried to relax. He waited; soon enough he smelled the ozone again and forced himself to stay calm. Then he heard it, the sharp crack of lightning. Without thinking he turned in that direction and raised up his hands in front of his chest automatically, his eyes flying open just as the lightning snapped above his head, making every hair on his body raise up in longing. He met Zolt’s eyes. Zolt was smirking at him.

“Let me ask you a question. You fucked a woman yet?” Zolt shrugged. “Or a man, however it takes you.” Mako didn’t answer but something in his face must have given it away because Zolt scoffed at him again. “Yeah, thought so. You’re too pretty not to get snatched up soon as you first started sporting wood.” Zolt threw his head back and laughed. “Look at you with that angry face like a pissed off little cat. Calm down, boy. Who’s to give a shit what you do or don’t? My point is that you need to think of firebending like fucking. Now a boy, he’s a selfish little fuck. All he thinks about is getting his own, never mind what his partner is feeling. He fucks hard until he spurts; then he jumps back up and gets ready to do it again.” Zolt generated the tiniest whip of lightning, making it dance from hand to hand. “Man, though? He takes his own sweet time. Makes sure he knows what his partner is feeling at all times, makes sure they’re having as good a time as he is. Unselfish man, he waits. He keeps his cool. He lets it build, lets it go slow until the time comes when they both can’t take it any longer, and then - and only then - does he let himself go.”

He abruptly threw the lightning at Mako, who skittered out of the way. “You firebend like a boy. Probably fuck like one, too. You’ve got enough talent to be a good firebender, sure. Question is, do you have what it takes to be a great one? You want to be a great one?” Mako’s fists clenched up and Zolt sneered. “Well? Do you?”

“Yes,” Mako said, and he forced his fists to unclench.

“Then keep your fucking cool. Learn how to be still. Learn how to wait. Firebending, it’s all chi. It’s all in us. We’re not like those other fucking benders, needing an element in order to bend it. All we need is ourselves. You know how they stop firebenders from bending?”

“They put them in the cold.”

“That’s right. But the great ones? They can bend no matter how cold they get. Not as good as they’d do on a hot summer’s day, true. But they can still manage. Those are the firebenders who are calm, who think it through instead of reacting, who know how to wait and listen and plan. The firebenders who are cool themselves. You following me, here? You understand what I’m telling you?”

Mako stared at Zolt. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes and put himself into a waiting position. All was silent until he heard the slightest scrape of a shoe against the pavement. His body started to tense up; he forced it to relax again. Here came the stench; next the snap of the lightning towards his left and he spun, hands going up and eyes flying open and there it was, heading straight for his heart.  _I can do this_ , he had time to think and instead of letting it come to him he reached for it, took it into his hands and let his body channel it through his stomach and out through his left hand, flying directly back to Zolt.

Zolt caught it easily and deflected it harmlessly across the lot. He pointed with one finger towards Mako and grinned. “That’s what I mean. You feel that? Different, yeah?”

“It was mine,” said Mako, and his smile was fierce. His entire body was on fire and he wanted to scream with it, scream and run and come undone, he wanted to punch something in his exultation, wanted to find Ming and see if she’d let him get under her skirt again. “Mine to take. Mine to give. Mine!” 

“Yeah, it was yours. You kept your cool. You keep doing that, you might make a damn good firebender one of these days.” Zolt nodded towards Mako’s crotch. “Yeah, you felt it like a man feels it this time. I told you. Just like fucking.” He laughed again. “Ah, you’re young yet. Better go rub that out before your balls get to aching. Go on. Get out of here.”

Mako held himself back for another moment. “Why are you doing this?”

“This what?” asked Zolt, pausing in the act of shaking a cigarette out of a jade-encrusted case.

“Helping me. Teaching me. Why are you doing it?”

Zolt finished shaking out the cigarette and put it to his lips before tucking the case back into his breast pocket. He raised his finger and lit it; took a slow drag and blew it out. He never took his eyes off of Mako. “I owed someone. I couldn’t pay my debt with them, so I’m paying it through you instead.”

“I don’t get it.” Mako crossed his arms.

Zolt took another deep drag and shrugged his shoulders. “Like I give a shit if you do. Take it or leave it, all the same to me.” He jetted the smoke out of his nostrils.

“I’ll take it.” 

“Yeah, you’re a smart one. Now fucking beat it. Go on. Get out of here.” 

Mako spun around and took off at a dead run across the lot, long legs flying. As he took the corner towards Sakura Street he let out with a whoop before disappearing.

Zolt stood there for another moment, smoking in silence, staring at the pitted dirt where Mako’s lightning had struck, before he too walked out of the lot.


	5. A Frank Analysis: Chief Beifong Takes Mako Out To Eat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lin gives Mako a little unasked for advice.

Mako was hanging up his uniform jacket when she greeted him.

“Evening.”

He jerked a short nod in response, turning deliberately away from her when her eyes went to the rip in his ancient undershirt. He shucked off the uniform trousers and pulled on his own.

“I really pay you so little that you can’t manage to buy yourself some new shorts?”

“Chief?” He turned back around to face her. Beifong was applying a coat of lipstick in the mirror, a rather intimate piece of business. He knew she wore lipstick, of course - he wasn’t blind or anything - but he’d never thought much of the logistics behind it.  _She probably combs her hair, too, you asshole_ , he thought to himself and turned away to button up his own pants.

Beifong blotted her lips on a tissue that she had pulled from a pocket. “You have any plans tonight?”

“What?” He froze, fingers on his tunic buttons.

“Have anywhere you need to be?”

“Uh…no?”

“Good. You’re coming with me, then. I’ll meet you by the front doors. Make it snappy,” she said, and pivoted on her heel to walk out of the changing room.

 _Fuck, now what did I do?_   He made sure he was extra presentable before he went to meet her, taking the time to run a comb through his hair and give a quick spit-shine to his shoes. She didn’t say anything, just walked around the corner and into a restaurant that he had never stepped foot into before.  _Chin’s_  read the sign above the door and a bell jangled as they entered. A man about Beifong’s age looked up from behind the counter and smiled.

“Chief,” he said, and saluted. “You look especially bureaucratic this evening.”

“Knock it off, smartass,” she said, and rolled her eyes at him. “Junior, this is Mako, my newest detective. Mako, this is Chin Junior, normally known as Junior. His dad opened this restaurant when I was just a kid. Junior is under the mistaken impression that he can give me a ration of shit whenever he pleases.”

“And I please, I really do.” He laughed. “So Mako, newest detective, what do you like to eat?”

He blinked. “Uh…anything, really.”

“Ah good, I hate the picky ones. Take a seat, I’ll send Third out in a second.”

Beifong made her way to a round booth in the back, a faded sign that said  _Reserved_ propped up on the table. “Sit,” she said, and did so herself. He sat down warily, glancing around first. “Great thing about Chin’s is that I’ve never even seen the menu. They know what I like.”

A man about his age bustled up, a tray full of dishes carefully balanced on one arm. His stomach growled at the smell. “Hey there, Chief,” he said cheerfully, putting the dishes on the table. He shot Mako a friendly smile. “I’m Third.”

“Yeah. Uh. Hi. Mako, here.” He said, and cursed himself, once again, for being such an idiot when it came to social mores.

“Grandma says that you’re not to leave without some egg custard tarts to go,” he said to Beifong as he finished loading up the table. He put a teapot down. “Give me a yell if you need anything else.”

“Thanks, Third,” Beifong said, and she nodded at Mako. “Eat.”

He dug in. The food was good; nothing fancy, like what he had eaten the one time at Kwong’s Cuisine with Asami, but a very generous leap up from the noodle kiosks he’d eaten from in the past. He inhaled most of a bowl of noodles before he noticed that Beifong was staring at him instead of eating. He froze again, not knowing where to look.

Beifong leaned back in her seat and poured herself a cup of tea. “How old were you when your parents died?”

“Eight,” He replied. He stared back at her. Why was she asking?

She nodded. “So that’d make you what, twenty now? I’m assuming you’re a summer baby. You’re too good a firebender not to be born in the summer.”

“Born on the solstice,” he answered, and then looked away. What did it matter?

“I read the police report, you know. About your parents.”

His eyes flew back to her. “What?”

“Not one of my cases, but I dug it up out of storage. Cold case, of course. Unsolved. Like so many of them are.” She sighed. “It says in the report that you and your brother were taken to the orphanage. You obviously didn’t stay there. Why not?”

He stared down at his plate. “We were there for a few months. Then there was this couple…they were going to adopt Bolin, but not me.”

“Ah,” she said, and the sympathy in her tone made him cringe. He shrugged.

“Not a big deal.”

“So who taught him to read and write? Your brother, I mean. He would have been how old?”

“Six.”

“Too young for school. So who taught him to read and write?”

“Uh…I did. Well, I tried, anyhow.”

She sipped at her tea. “So you were eight, on the streets with a six year old. How did you live?” He just watched her, silent.

“Never mind,” she said, and waved her hand. “Stupid question that doesn’t actually need answering.” She took up the teapot and poured him a cup, pushing it across the table. “I think you know why I promoted you to detective, right?”

He blinked at the sudden change of subject. “Uh…I think?”

“You’re clearly brilliant, for one thing. Sharp, but not one to make quick decisions. You think things through. That’s why you keep those logbooks, right?” She nodded towards his breast pocket but didn’t wait for an answer. “You’re observant as fuck and that brain never turns itself off, does it? You’re a practical man, which I appreciate, being a practical woman myself. Everything’s like a puzzle to you and you take the time necessary to put all the pieces together until you figure it out.” At his look she let out a snort of laughter. “It’s my job to know the people working under me, Mako. That and kiss asses that need to be kissed. Politics. Fuck ‘em anyhow.” She rolled her eyes and took another swallow of tea before taking up her chopsticks.

“I’ve been thinking of partnering you up with Chiyo. She’s got about fifteen years on you, so you’d learn a lot from her. She’s impulsive and damn intuitive, pretty much the opposite of you. I think between the two of you you’d cover just about anything that needs covering. Not to mention, she’s a fair-minded woman. She won’t hold your past on the streets with the Triads against you.”

"Uh, okay. Great." He knew Chiyo by sight and reputation. She was a good cop, by all accounts.

She pulled a bowl of noodles closer. “I never was much as a detective…” She a made little face at his noise of protest. “Oh, I was competent enough, but I was never a great detective, not by a long shot. I’m a better enforcer, I always was.” She pointed a chopstick at him. “But here’s what I am observing now. I see a man in front of me, wearing clothes that have seen better days. Clean and well-cared for, absolutely, but old. Too old for the kind of salary he’s pulling. This very same man is hunched over his food, one arm wrapped around his bowl. Protective. Keeping his food clear from other predators. He inhales his food quickly and he didn’t wait for me to start eating before he started, that’s for sure. He hasn’t remembered to put his napkin on his lap.”

His face burned with humiliation. He stared down into his bowl, appetite gone. He started suddenly as Beifong leaned closer to put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Mako, I’m not criticizing. I gave you the job because I admire the fuck out of you. I see you and your brother and I’m at a complete loss as to how you, as a child, managed all of it. You kept the both of you alive and you are both decent, good men. Your brother, Raava help him, is probably one of the nicest men in this entire damn city. I’m giving you Chiyo as a partner because I know her well enough to know that she’ll see these things about you as well and judge you based on that, and not on your table manners or the fact that you used to run numbers for Lightning Bolt Zolt.” She sighed, and removed her hand. He found himself wishing she’d put it back. He didn’t know how to feel about that. “The thing is, though, is that most people won’t. Judge you on who you are on the inside, I mean. They’ll make flash judgments on what they see. It’s not fair, but it’s how it is. You aren’t a stupid man, not by any means. You know what I’m saying.”

He nodded. He still wasn’t looking at her.

Beifong was silent for a few moments before speaking again. “Look. We’ve all been through it the past few months. I know you just got a whole load of people dumped on you out there at Asami’s place. Korra’s gone and who knows when she’s coming back? Not that she won’t get taken care of by Katara and Kya, they're the best healers the world has to offer, and you can trust me on that one. So I get that your focus hasn’t really been on moving forward. But it needs to be, you follow me?”

He met her eyes, finally. He shook his head.

“Buy yourself some new clothes. Do something with that hair of yours. It was fine for a pro-bender, but it makes you look young. You are young. Youngest detective I’ve got, which is already a strike against you, never mind your not so savory past. Give yourself a little polish. You don’t eat out much, do you?”

He cleared his throat. “Outside of noodle joints, this is only the second restaurant I’ve been to. At least since my parents died.”

She nodded. “It shows. You’re observant. Look around you. Watch how others are eating, how they behave. You stand out. You’re feral, for lack of a better word. So what I am saying to you is use those skills of yours. Pay attention. Take notes. Implement some changes. Like I said, give yourself some polish, shine up the outside. You get me?”

He thought about it while Beifong ate some of her noodles. He watched how she held her bowl, how she wielded her chopsticks, the placement of her tea cup. He sat up straight, moved his bowls and his tea cup, put his napkin on his lap. He arched an eyebrow at her and she surprised him by grinning at him. Beifong wasn’t much for smiles, usually. They sat for awhile and ate in silence and he tried his best to eat slowly and sit up properly. The food was very good.

After they’d eaten, Junior’s wife - who was apparently called Madame Junior - brought them out two glasses of whiskey. He wasn’t much of a drinker; he’d seen what alcohol had done to plenty of people on the street and he had no desire to go that way himself. He wasn’t a judge of whiskey but he suspected, by the rich smokiness of it, that what he was drinking was a good whiskey indeed. He also suspected that the other patrons of Chin’s probably weren’t privy to this particular whiskey. 

“Your accent’s good,” Beifong said. She took a swallow of her whiskey. “You lived over on Peony Avenue with your folks, right? That’s a solid lower middle-class neighborhood, or at least it was then. According to the report your father worked at the big marketplace by the train station?”

He nodded. “He was in charge of the produce stall that Kong Sung Grocer had there.” Kong Sung was the biggest grocery store in the city. “I guess he knew the business from Ba Sing Se. My mother was home with us. She was very strict about that kind of thing. Manners, I mean. Kind of old school Fire Nation, I guess. She’d really let us have it if we picked up any of the street dialect, didn’t act like gentlemen, things like that.” He poked at his bowl absently with his chopstick. “I guess I’d be a pretty big disappointment to her.”

“I very much doubt that,” her tone was firm. “The accent is a point in your favor, for sure. People judge others on how they sound. Unfair, of course,” and here she shrugged, “but nevertheless.”

“That’s what my mother used to say.”

Beifong snorted with amusement. “No matter how hard she tried, my mother always did sound like an Earth Kingdom aristocrat. Even her cursing - and if you think I can tear it up, you should have met my mother - sounded like she had a mouth full of gold. She had a tendency to order people around, too. Like they were her servants.” Beifong barked out a laugh. “Irascible bitch that she was.” At hiss look she waved her hand again. “Never mind, mommy issues, moving on. Thing is, though, is that as much as my mother liked to play the wild child, she also knew how to hold her own with anybody. The Avatar, the Firelord, the City Council. She knew the game. She played the game. You strike me as the ambitious type. Your pro-bending career is pretty legendary, you know. And ambition is a good thing in our business. Damn good. You’ve got a genuine gift for detective work, that goes without saying. But you want my job someday, you need to give yourself some polish.”

“I’m not-”

She cut him off. “I have to retire at some point. I sure as shit am not going to be doing this job into my seventies. You think about it. When’s your next day off?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

She nodded. “Fine. Do a little clothes shopping. Nobody says you need to be a fucking dandy or anything, but you aren’t a beat cop any longer. You need to get rid of the uniform. My detectives are plainclothes. Makes it easier to blend in, it’s not as threatening for a lot of people when they are being questioned. Think of it as a different kind of uniform, one that you take on and off for work, not the clothes you wear off the clock. Look around tomorrow, see what the rest of the detectives are wearing. You want nice - people need to take you seriously - but not so nice that you intimidate people, you follow? And for the love of Raava, buy yourself some new underwear. It reflects badly on me. I pay my officers enough to live off of. There’s no damn reason for you to be walking around looking like something a catgator chewed up and spit out. Tomorrow I’ll let Chiyo know I’m partnering you up with her. You can trust her not to fuck you over. I’m not saying she won’t ride your ass - and ride it hard - but she won’t stab you in the back. She’s good. Learn from her.” She took her whiskey glass and shot the rest of it down. “You still out there at Asami’s place with your people?” At Mako’s look she gave a short laugh. “Ah, family. Well, you’ll figure it out. Hey, here comes Junior with the tarts. Best fucking egg custard tarts in this city.”

“So they are. And Mother says I’m to give some to the handsome young boy with you,” Junior said, winking at Mako before handing him a white box tied with string. “Hope to see you in here again.”

Beifong grunted at that and stood up. Mako reached into his pocket for his wallet but she waved him off. “I’ve got a tab. It’s covered.”

“Chief…”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s covered, I said.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and she nodded.

“That’s more like it. You’re going to do just fine. You just need a little polish.”

“Polish,” he repeated, and he followed her back out the door, tarts in hand.


	6. A Kindred Spirit: Mako Goes For A Quick Spin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako takes a family member for a ride on his bike.

He was running a quick check on his bike - tires inflated, oil gauge in the clear, that kind of thing - when he realized he had an audience. One of them, a toddler of indeterminate gender, was standing right next to the front tire, diaper sagging, thumb firmly in mouth, staring at Mako.

“Hey,” he said, and the toddler popped the thumb out as a means of greeting before jamming it right back in.

“Is that yours?” asked one of the other kids. She looked about ten, maybe? Mako wasn’t all that sure, hard to tell with kids sometimes. He knew her name was Bai, though. She belonged to his Aunt LiLing’s side of the family, so no actual blood relation to him.

“Yep,” he replied, and crouched down to make sure the chain tension was what it should be. 

“Wheredya get it?” She put her hands on her hips, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Miss Sato gave it to me,” he replied, and satisfied the chain tension was tight enough - it had been giving him some grief over the past week, Asami had done some adjusting for him, but he wanted to check it again before he left - he stood up.

“How come?” The girl had moved closer, scowling at him. Why was she scowling at him? What the hell had he ever done to her? 

“It was a birthday present.” He took up a rag and managed to wipe most of the grease off of his fingers. He resisted the urge to wipe his hands on his pants. They were new pants. Nice pants. He wanted to keep them that way.

“Nobody ever gave me a birthday present like that,” said a slightly younger boy, eyes wide at the very thought. Ju-Long. He was a pretty funny kid, Mako liked him, cowlicks, gap-toothed grin and all. “My last birthday I got a used pair of shoes.” 

“That’s a pretty crappy birthday present,” Mako said, and the boy nodded glumly.

“Yeah.”

“You said crappy,” the girl informed him, with her little nose up the air. “That’s a bad word.”

“Sorry,” Mako said. Didn’t these kids have somewhere better to be? They were at the Sato Estate, couldn’t they go swimming or play some mini-golf or something? Mini-golf. He still couldn’t believe Asami had her own little golf course here. Unreal. The last time all four of them had played Korra had gotten pissed off that she couldn’t get her ball in the little hole and had practically bent up half the course trying to cheat and airbend it in. His heart sank, like it always did when he thought of Korra. She hadn’t answered any of his letters yet, but it had only been a couple of weeks. He guessed she needed some time to get settled in, back down at her parents’ house. He missed her, though. They all did.

A woman emerged from the side door, smiling. “Good morning, Mako.” Wen. His father’s cousin, his grandmother’s brother’s daughter. At least that’s what Mako thought. He still couldn’t keep track of everyone - his cousins and his aunt and uncle and his grandmother he managed, of course, but some of these people that had come with them from Ba Sing Se seemed to have tenuous familial connections at best. Not that it mattered, he supposed. What were they going to do, stay in whatever remained of their tenement in what was currently a war zone just because they weren’t technically related? He remembered Wen, though. She’d tried to do her laundry in the swimming pool the second day they were all here.

“Morning,” he replied, stowing the rag back into the pack on the side of the bike. Everybody out here with their  _good mornings_  and their  _how are yous_  and their  _so what are you up to todays_. It wasn’t that it was a bad thing, necessarily; he knew they were just being friendly and Bolin, he loved it, he really did, he had jumped right into this whole extended family thing like he’d grown up that way. Mako, though, sometimes he had to just get away for awhile, take a break, sneak a cigarette in a remote corner of the estate. Not that someone didn’t usually find him. Because someone usually did. Someone who wanted something, naturally. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but somewhere in the few months that they’d all been here Mako had become the family go-to guy. Didn’t these people know he had a job?

“So where are you off to today?” And there it was.

Mako shrugged. “Just got some stuff I need to do.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he wasn’t about to let her know where he was going. There were no secrets with these people. He’d found that out the hard way.

Wen put up her hands in a placating gesture. “And it’s none of my business, either, although you’re too polite to say so.” She smiled to take the sting out and gestured at the toddler. “Lei, come along. I need to change your diaper.”

Lei wasn’t having any of that. Both the thumb and the toddler stayed put.

“Come with Grandma, come on, sweetheart,” she coaxed. “Don’t you want your diaper changed?”

Mako was thinking the kid did not, in fact, want a diaper change.

“Could I go for a ride sometime?” That was Ju-Long, finger running daringly down the side of the saddle. Mako grinned. It was a nice ride, brand new, wasn’t even out in production yet. He had the only one of its kind at the moment, a glossy wine red color with black leather accents. He couldn’t blame the kid for admiring it. He admired it plenty himself.

“Sure. If it’s okay with your folks.” Ju-Long grinned right back at him, and Mako finished buckling down his pack. “I can’t today, though, I’ve got somewhere to be. Maybe later we could take it for a little spin. You ever been on a bike before?”

Ju-Long shook his head. “No! Will you go fast?”

“Sure thing,” Mako said, and he tipped a wink at Wen so she’d know that he wouldn’t really go fast. Not with a kid on the bike!

Wen laughed. “Well, something to look forward to, right, Ju-Long? Now grab your brother for me, would you? He needs a diaper change and you need to brush your teeth, young man.”

“I already did!” At a look from his grandmother the kid kicked at the dirt. “Well…okay. Maybe I could do it again.” He flashed her that gap-toothed grin and she chuckled.

“Mmm-hmm, that’s what I thought. We’ll see you later, Mako.” With that she guided the two boys inside - not without a loud protest from the disgruntled toddler, who bawled around his thumb - leaving Mako with Bai. Who had her arms crossed, staring at the ground. She muttered something he didn’t quite catch.

“Hmmm? Say again? I didn’t hear you.”

She looked up at him, and her lower lip trembled. “How come you won’t take me for a ride?”

“Uh…” Great. Just great. That’s all he needed this morning. “I never said I wouldn’t.” 

She wiped a sleeve angrily across her eyes. “I bet you won’t.”

Mako propped his fist up on his hip. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you’re going to take stupid old Ju-Long.”

“So?” Was he really having this discussion? Spirits, the girl had a stare that could peel paint off the walls. She could give Beifong a run for her yuan with that look.

“So everybody likes Ju-Long. He’s cute. He’s funny. Everybody always gives him extra treats and stuff. Nobody does that for me.” There went the lower lip again, but only for a second; she thrust her chin up and glared at him. “I don’t care. I’m smarter than him. I’m super smart. The teacher at the school here couldn’t believe I had never been to school in Ba Sing Se, she said it was amazing I had learned as much as I had just at home.” She was looking at him like she dared him to argue, but he wasn’t going to argue. He knew how she felt. Hadn’t it always been that way with Bolin? Bolin was born adorable; everyone liked him, petted him, let him get away with murder. They still did! Mako had been prickly; temperamental and introverted, obsessed with an inconvenient sense of justice and fairness even when he was small. He could remember going with his mother and Bolin, visiting his father down at the big open marketplace where he worked, the ladies in the nearby stalls exclaiming over Bolin, pinching his cheeks and giving him sweets. No one had ever pinched his cheeks - not that he wanted them to, let’s make that very clear - and if they gave him sweets it was only because they felt guilty for singling out Bolin and forgetting about his serious and intense older brother.

He spoke without thinking it through. “You like school? I liked school.”

Bai nodded. “Yeah. I like reading and writing best.” She shrugged and looked away, like it meant nothing to her, but he caught the little squirm of embarrassment she gave. “Sometimes I like to write stories. About stuff.” She looked at him sideways and held her breath a little; waiting to see how he’d react to that statement.

He nodded slowly. “I liked math best. I was good at math.” That was an understatement. He was what his teacher had called gifted at math, soaking up new problems and ideas like a sponge, numbers sprawled extravagantly all over his school slate. He remembered the pleasure of getting so caught up in a tricky equation that the rest of the world dropped away, the feeling of jubilation and satisfaction when he got the answer right. He always got the answers right. His parents had been so proud. 

“C’mon,” he said, and held out his hand to her. “I really do have to be somewhere today, but I can give you a ride up the street and back. For now. We can take a longer ride later.”

She frowned a little, suspicious. “How come?”

He knew what she meant. “Let’s just say one good student to another. You coming, or aren’t you?”

She dragged herself forward, and Mako knew without being told that she was waiting for the moment when he’d take it back; change his mind or tell her it was all just a joke, ha ha, funny stuff. He knew that feeling, too. “Bai, I’m not making fun. I’ll give you a quick ride today and then on my next day off we’ll ask your parents and if they say okay we’ll go for a long ride. Just me and you. I swear.”

She wanted to believe, he could see, and his throat tightened up. He knew how that felt, too, Spirits did he know! Wanting to trust, wanting something so badly you were willing to risk disappointment or a little humiliation for it. “Cross your heart hope to die stick a needle in your eye?” she said all in one breath, staring up at him defiantly. He solemnly crossed over his heart with his right forefinger, pointing the same finger at his eye before extending his crooked pinky at her. “Pinky swear.”

Her hand darted out and her pinky curled around his, tugging slightly. “We can go now?”

In response he turned and tugged his helmet off the back of the bike, lowering it gently around her head and adjusting the chin strap so that it would stay on. He swung one leg gracefully over and sat down; twisting around he reached his hands out to lift her easily behind him. “I’m not going to let you drop, okay? Put your feet here,” he demonstrated with his own, “and hold on tight to my waist. You got it? Don’t let go of me.”

She nodded, nestling forward until she was right up against him, her little arms barely making it all the way around his waist.

“Okay, it’s a little loud, so don’t be scared.”

“I’m not scared!” she squeaked, offended, and he grinned.

“Course you’re not,” he said, and fired the bike up. “Hang on tight!” He gave it a little gas and she clutched at him with a little scream, her legs involuntarily curling up. He took her down Asami’s impossibly long driveway, out the main gate, and down to the end of road before looping the bike smoothly around to head back.

She pounded him with one small imperious fist. “Go faster!” He laughed, and picked up some speed. Nothing too fast, of course, but for a kid who had never been on a bike before it probably felt like a lot faster than it was. He took her back up the driveway and switched the bike off, craning around the seat to look down at her. Her eyes were shining and she was grinning, her face transformed from the sullen expression it was usually carrying.

“It was like flying! Just like flying,” she burbled, and he grinned back at her while carefully handing her down. He reached over and unfastened the helmet, sliding it from her head.

“You liked that?”

“It was the best! The best!” Suddenly she flung her skinny little arms around him to give him a brief, hard hug. “Thanks, Mako.” She pulled herself back and dropped his gaze, embarrassed by her impetuousness. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he said. “Look, I have a long way to go today, so I really do have to go. But my next day off. You. Me. It’s a date, okay? I promise. I won’t forget.”

“Promise?” She asked, meeting his eyes again, and the vulnerability in her eyes killed him, just a little bit. He crossed his heart again and nodded.

“Okay,” she said, and then, casually, “Maybe you could read one of my stories sometime. You know. If you wanted to. No big deal if you don’t.”

She was breaking his heart, she really was. He put his hands together, helmet dangling, and bowed from his seat. “It would be my honor to read one of your stories, Bai.”

“Okay!” she repeated, and she dashed back into the house without looking back. He pulled on the helmet, readjusting it before sliding his goggles back on, buttoning up his jacket and tugging on his gloves. He figured it was going to take him about three hours to get where he was going and he was already a half hour later than he wanted to be leaving. Time to go. He started the bike up again, threw it into gear, and roared down the driveway.


	7. An Intoxicated Coquetry: Nuo Flirts with Yumi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archived from the OC Kiss Week 2018 prompt from Tumblr. First kiss: Yumi and Nuo
> 
> (Not quite set in Republic City, but close enough!)

Wu was sitting on his ass in the middle of the deck, clad in nothing but his silk undershorts, laughing uproariously, holding his hands in front of him, yelling, “Seven!” and breaking up all over again. She had no idea what was setting him off, but she had to laugh in return. Poor kid. He had hardly any laughter left in him these days. She’d been against this damn trip to the Southeast Provinces but he’d insisted, and when he got a buzzard wasp up his ass about anything then he wouldn’t back down for love or money. Royalty. What could you do? She was paid to keep him safe, not argue with him. She left that part of it to all of his damned advisors.

She’d also been against the whole cactus juice thing on the grounds of security, but he’d started to throw one of his fits, so she’d stepped back and given in, like pretty much everyone else but Nuo did when he got His Majesty on. She’d made arrangements to get some delivered and then had gone to tell the Dai Li that she’d have their guts for garters if they let anyone but her in and out of the royal airship that night. Let him get it out of his system, then, she’d keep him safe. Although she hoped he kept it from Mako. That man had exactly zero calm when it came to Wu. She still wondered what the actual fuck Lin Beifong had been thinking when she’d made him Wu’s bodyguard. The man didn’t have the temperament for the job, and spirits knew he was far too emotionally invested in Wu. Although maybe that had been the point.

Wu’d purely die a thousand deaths if he realized he’d stripped down to his bare nothing, though. She’d chased him around the deck, finally grabbing him, holding him still while she’d forced his shorts back on him as he’d insisted he was a badgermole, trying to crawl away from her. A badgermole! She couldn’t stop herself from laughing. The kid was practically concave. Eel hound more like it.

Huan had taken some as well, not that anyone could tell the difference between Huan high or sober. He was just laying on the deck, staring up at the stars, muttering about colors to himself. Raava’s kitestrings but he did that kind of thing all the time anyhow. Not that she didn’t like him. She did, actually, Huan Beifong and his odd ways. She figured he’d most likely stay there all night, although she’d keep an eye on him, of course. Sometimes the juice took people the wrong way, and so she’d stay up, make sure all was well. So far so good.

She’d been surprised that Nuo had taken some, though. Nuo was, bar none, the biggest control freak she’d ever met. She’d never have taken her for one that would want to try out cactus juice, of all things. She guessed it was a measure of her trust in the rest of them that she’d potentially expose herself by doing it. She’d only taken a few sips, however; so far she’d mostly been quiet, laying on one of the lounge chairs they had set out on the deck.

Yumi sat, biding her time, for another half hour or so; Huan was still doing his Huan thing and Wu had finally simmered down enough that she’d put him on a chair next to Nuo, covering him lightly with a blanket and letting him be. She thought Nuo might be drowsing; she still hadn’t really been doing much besides just laying there. She was surprised, therefore, when Nuo got up from her chair and came to sit next to her.

“You okay there, Miss Nuo?” Hard to tell if her pupils were dilated, the irises of her eyes were that dark.

“Mmmmhmmmm,” she said, and Yumi had to grin. A mellow Nuo was a new Nuo, for sure. “I feel just fine.” A slow smile.

“Do you need anything?”

“Yumi, you’re very big, aren’t you?” She leaned in closer.

“Comes in handy, my line of work.”

“Really, really big.” She reached out one of those little hands and ran it along her bicep. Yumi felt her eyebrows soar up to her hairline. “I bet you could just pick me up and carry me off.”

She could, as it happened, but that wasn’t the point. “You feeling okay?”

“Yumi?” Nuo leaned against her, those breasts of hers pushing against her arm, spilling over to press all warm and soft against her torso. Damn. There was plenty to go around, too. Nuo was what her oldest sister liked to call bountiful. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

“Sure, Miss Nuo.” She was a fucking knockout, no mistake, but that was neither here nor there. “How about I go get you a blanket, you lay back down for a bit?”

Miss Nuo was having exactly none of that. “You do think I’m pretty?” She was practically in her lap at this point. Time to dock this boat before she did something she’d enjoy in the present and regret like fuck later.

“Yeah, time for you to lay down. You want to go lay next to Dumpling?” She tried to stand but Nuo clung to her, her hair slipping out of all the knots and buns and things she always put it into to hang around her face. She wasn’t sure how long all of it was but she’d lay a month’s salary it went past her waist. It’d probably hang around her like a curtain, and sweep across her body like…nope. Nope. Not going to happen. She was on duty, for one thing, and for another, it was a whole list of bad ideas.

“No, I want to lay down next to you.”

“Miss Nuo. I’m on duty. Be a good girl and go lay down, okay?”

Nuo put a hand to her throat. “I don’t want to be a good girl.” Her other hand slid down her thigh and Yumi took in a sharp breath. “I’m tired of being a good girl.”

“Yeah well…” she trailed off. She didn’t actually have an answer for that beyond  _shit alive_  or  _what the fuck is going on here_  or possibly  _girl, I would ride you hard and put you away wet._  So instead she got up and moved away before going down on her haunches to look Nuo in the eyes. “Miss Nuo, you are a beautiful woman. Very attractive, and I’m not the only one to notice. But you’ve got that man of yours waiting for you in Zaofu and a woman like you deserves nothing but the best.”

Her hands crept up to her hair and it loosened as if by magic; slowly tumbling down as hairpins were disgorged to the deck. “I do deserve the best.” Oh, it went well past her waist, a soft black cloud of hair. Ah fuck, but she was killing her, here. She was still just a baby; not quite twenty, her skin flawless in the moonlight. Had she thought about it? Of course she had. She liked women who had plenty of confidence, and Nuo had enough for twenty women or more. She’d thought about what might happen if that girl ever lost her ironclad control; she wasn’t a braggart, no, but she knew what she was about and knew she could get her exactly where she wanted her if she tried.

Thing was, Nuo wasn’t the kind of girl you played around with. Nuo was a woman for keeps, a woman you devoted your life to. She’d get that from Wing Beifong; just a boy himself, but he was shaping up to be a damn good man. He’d love her and care for her, make a good life with her. Nuo was going places, and doors would open for her when she was a Beifong.

She couldn’t give her any of that. Oh, she could show her a damn good time tonight, keep it going for a few weeks, a few months at most. But then she’d be ready to move on, the way she always was. That’s who she was, and she’d always made sure she found women who wanted nothing more than that from her. Some good times, companionship, hot sex, sure, but nothing permanent. She was friends with a good portion of her former lovers, and she liked it that way.

It wasn’t for Nuo, though. And once upon a time, when she’d been young and stupid, she’d taken up with a woman like Nuo, had broken her heart into a million pieces and ruined her. Never again. She was older and wiser now, and that’s why she was going to put this girl to bed alone and chalk the night up to cactus juice. Most likely Nuo wouldn’t even remember it come morning.

“You deserve Wing. It’s not going to happen, Miss Nuo, so let’s stop all of this now. You go on and lay down over there, try and get some sleep.”

Nuo stared at her, saying nothing, the breeze playing with the ends of her hair. Finally, she smiled. “One kiss,” she said. “One kiss, and then I’ll be good.”

She shook her head. “Come on now, Miss Nuo. You and I both know it isn’t going to happen.”

“Yes it is,” Nuo replied, and it was the confidence in her voice, that self-assurance that made her ache, hot and sweet. She crooked a finger at her. “One kiss, Yumi, and then I’ll be the best girl in the world.”

Ah, she was killing her. It was a bad idea, and she’d regret it. But damn it, there she sat, chin tilted up, dimples showing, and Yumi was still human. So she moved forward, grabbed a fistful of that soft, silky hair and kissed that girl for all she was worth. And fuck it, she got that bossy little mouth of hers open and ran her tongue along that sharp little tongue, crushing Nuo close to her, enjoying the softness of her. She kissed her until Nuo went limp her arms, until she knew if she didn’t stop kissing her right then and there she wasn’t going to stop at all. She broke away to gaze down at her, her eyes closed and her face flushed, her breasts heaving. It took every single bit of her discipline, all of her strict Kyoshi training, to let her go and stand up, take a step or two back.

Nuo’s eyelashes fluttered open. “Oh Yumi,” she said, and then, thank the seas and beyond, said nothing more than that.

“Go on now,” she said, hardening her voice. “You had your kiss and you made a promise. Go on and lay down next to Dumpling.” She crossed her arms and waited as Nuo stood unsteadily, wobbling her way over to Wu. Normally she would have gone to help her, but not tonight. Maybe not for a little while.

She shouldn’t have done it, damn it. Ah well. Done and done, as her Ma would say. Can’t change the past, just have to live with it. With any luck she’d just think it was a juice dream and all would be forgotten. She waited until Nuo laid herself down, her hand creeping out to take Wu’s in hers. Oh, that was the juice alright. Dumpling was always His Majesty this and His Majesty that for Nuo, she’d never take his hand if she wasn’t still flying. Wu didn’t even move, his eyes closed, a little smile on his face. Dreaming of badgermoles, most likely.

Once she was sure Nuo was quiet she draped a blanket over her as well. She murmured something about roses, she didn’t catch it and it didn’t matter anyhow. She walked over to where Huan was still laying, sprawled on the deck. “You okay down there?”

Huan peered up at her. “Shhhhh,” he said. “I can’t hear the little bird up here. The roots ran away to the sky.”

Well, hard to say if that was the juice or not - with Huan, who could tell? - but he seemed fine for the moment, so she took her seat again and taking out her katana, started to sharpen it.


	8. A Charming Beginning: LoLo Meets Naoki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archived from the OC Kiss Week 2018 prompt from Tumblr. First kiss: LoLo and Naoki

It was pretty here, he had to admit; plenty of soft, rolling green hills, dipping into valleys, warm but without the sticky humidity you’d find in and around the Fire Nation’s Capital City. It wasn’t all that long of a drive down from the harbor in Republic City; he was guessing folks could easily drive up if they wanted to, dip their country toes in a bit of city life.

He didn’t know much about the family. General Iroh had told him that they were originally from Ba Sing Se, refugees after the Red Lotus had torn the city apart. Apparently a nephew of the family was a native of Republic City and had worked for a few years as the bodyguard for King Hou-Ting, the one that was in the process of abdicating. Hou-Ting had been the one that had contacted the Firelord on their behalf. He’d also given the family the property here, a vineyard with a small estate and they’d settled in just a few months prior. They had two little foster daughters, one of whom, the two year old, had just started throwing flame. The family did have a few earthbenders - not surprising, being from Ba Sing Se and all - but couldn’t handle a firebender, of course. The General had asked him to come and stay with them for a few months, keep the little one from burning the place down until they figured out what to do with her. He understood the Firelord was making inquiries about finding her a permanent placement with a Fire Nation family. It wasn’t exactly what he was used to - being the head cook of a naval battleship was a far cry from playing nanny to a little girl - but he supposed it would give him a chance to figure out what he wanted to do next. Truth be told, he was grateful to General Iroh as well as the Firelord for thinking of him.

The driver, after consulting a map, eventually turned down a long gated driveway that opened up onto a beautiful home. Grapevines to every side, and quite a few fruit trees to boot. He eased himself out of the back seat, clutching onto his cane, his knee stiff and aching after the drive. Damn the knee, anyhow! It wasn’t enough that it ruined his livelihood; it had to hurt like this, too? As the driver went to fetch his duffel out of the trunk a woman bustled out of the door, bowing.

“Hello there! You must be Lozan. I’m LiLing. Welcome!” She called back towards the house. “Tu! Make yourself useful for once and come and take Mister Lozan’s bag for him!”

She took him inside and immediately sat him down for a cup of tea, introducing her mother-in-law as well as several other members of the extended family. Her husband and older son were out in the fields, and her adult daughter was currently up in Republic City, beginning her studies at the university, something which the family spoke of with pride. They were a friendly group of folks; unpretentious, open, curious about his past without being nosy about it. After tea she showed him to the room they’d made up for him; he asked where the child was sleeping and was told on the floor above. “She’ll need to be in the room with me,” he said, ignoring his knee’s insistent throbbing. “At least until she gets some control over that bending. Baby firebenders are a menace.”

LiLing took him into the garden in the back. “We try to keep her outdoors as much as possible, less damage that way. She’s always been happier when she can move around. She’s a very active child.” Her tone told him that active was a polite way of putting it. “She does bend when she’s upset of course.” She smiled. “No different than an earthbending child, when it comes down to it, and I have three of those.” She slowed down a little, to match his stiff and shambling pace. “But sometimes the fire seems to come out of nowhere.”

He laughed. “One of my younger sisters managed to torch all of her bedsheets in her sleep every night for two weeks at one point. I thought my poor mother was going to tear her hair out.” He gazed around him. “This is a lovely garden you have here.”

“Hello!” A plump little girl, about six or thereabouts, ran up to them.

“This is Shu,” her mother said, cupping the back of her head. “Shu, this is Lozan. He’s going to be keeping an eye on Naoki for us for a bit. Please bow, sweetling.” Shu bowed and he bowed in return.

“Are you a firebender?”

“That I am, Miss Shu.”

A ragged jet of flame burst over a lushly blooming rhododendron, followed by a shout. “Naoki! No!”

“Oh dear,” LiLing said, and picked up the pace, rounding the corner of the path as he put his cane to good use. “Naoki! Oh sweetling, be careful! Don’t burn Auntie Wen!”

A toddler was running through the grass, laughing, her black hair done up in two rather electrified pigtails, one trailing a bow, the other bare. “Budderfie! Budderfie!” she shrieked, and another gout of flame shot out of her right hand. He whistled softly. Powerful little thing, wasn’t she? Only one of his siblings had been bending by the age of two and he had barely managed anything more than a rare weak flicker. This girl was already throwing a good foot of flame. No wonder her folks were worried.

“Naoki!” LiLing called and the girl turned towards them. His fingers tightened on his cane. Well now! Get a load of those gold eyes! That combined with her rounded cheeks and the delicate point of her chin? He’d grown up in the Firelord’s palace, working in the kitchens with his parents, and he knew Fire Nation nobility when he saw it. These good people from Ba Sing Se wouldn’t know, of course, but if that baby wasn’t some aristocrat’s by-blow he’d eat the damn cane.

She ran towards them, tilting her head up to peer at him. “No, Ma.”

“Naoki, this is Lozan. Can you say hello to Lozan?” LiLing bent down to put a hand to the girl’s back. “Say hello to Lozan, sweetling.”

“No.” Those brows furrowed and she scowled. Oh, no doubt about it. She even glared like a lady of the court. All she needed was a fan and gold in her hair instead of ribbons.

“Naoki, that’s not nice. Please say hello to Lozan.”

He kept her eyes and raised his hand slowly, watching her track it. He let flame blossom; her eyes nearly bulged and she let out with an ear-splitting screech.

“Fire! Fire! Fire!”

He nodded and he moved it close to her, ignoring LiLing’s gasp of alarm. “That’s right, little one. I’m a firebender, just like you.” He closed his hand and it disappeared. She stamped her foot, her outrage clear.

“No! Fire! Do it! fire!”

“Naoki! That is not how we speak to guests!” LiLing put a hand to her chest. “I am so sorry. She’s…well…”

He chuckled. “Temperamental? Determined? Intense?” His hand darted out and grabbed her wrist as she started to thrust it out, making sure his grip was gentle. “Ah ah ah, Naoki. No bending when you’re angry.” He glanced over at her foster mother with a smile. “She’s a fine example of a firebender baby.”

“No!” Naoki tried to pull her hand back, reaching out with her left hand to shoot flame at him. He dropped the cane to deflect it up.

“Strong with both hands, I see. That’s unusual, most young firebenders favor a side. Does she use her feet-” Naoki kicked up a wild spray and he redirected that one as well. “Ah. Never mind.”

“Oh goodness, she’s quite worked up.” The other woman ventured a little closer.

“Lozan, this is my cousin Wen.”

“Pardon my not bowing, ma’am, but I think I need to keep my eyes on this one. She’s not very happy with-” another burst from her foot, instantly diverted. “Oh, we can do this all day, little one.” He grinned. He did like a girl with spirit.

“Naoki’s being naughty.” Little Shu looked smug. “I never bend fire at people.”

“Well, you don’t bend anything at all,” Wen answered with a sniff. “Now come along, Shu. Mister Lozan, I am so glad you’re here.” He just bet she was. One of her sleeves was noticeably scorched. She hustled the older girl out as LiLing hovered at a safe distance.

“I’m sure you’ve got plenty to do,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Naoki. “You can leave her with me. She and I are just going to get to know each other.”

“If you’re sure…”

He risked a quick look and a smile. “I’m as sure as sure can be.”

“I’ll send someone out when it’s time for dinner, then.” She dithered for a moment before walking back towards the house. “Be a good girl, Naoki.”

He met those imperious gold eyes. “Now then. It’s time for you to learn that you can’t just set things on fire when you want to.” She scowled and kicked again. “Or people, while you’re at it.” He let loose of her wrist; before she could dash away he brought up flame in his hand again.

“Ooooh,” she said, reaching out her chubby little hand.

“Careful! You can burn yourself!” He knew she would, of course; all firebenders had an assortment of scars, some worse than others. It all depended on the parents. As the oldest of nine children he’d put in his share and more of keeping an eye on his brothers and sisters while his parents were working; his youngest sister had been a runner, to boot. His mother had come home one night to find that he’d tied her securely with a lead to the clothesline in the backyard. That had gotten him a lecture he was still smarting over, all these years later.

“Here now, little one, let Lozan show you.” He leaned down to pick up his cane, staggering to a nearby bench. The knee had gone straight past protest and into screaming defiance by now. “Come and sit next to me.” He patted next to him and she crawled up and stood up on the seat, using one hand to balance against his shoulder until she had her footing.

“Fire? Lohsh?” She put her hand out, and he turned it palm up, tapping at it.

“Lozan.” He gave one of her pigtails a little tweak.

“Lo.” She reached over with her baby hand and patted his check. “Lo.” A giggle as she brought up her other hand, sandwiching his mouth between them. “LoLo.” Another squish and her giggles intensified. “LoLo!”

He laughed with her, wrapping an arm around her waist. “LoLo’s good enough for me. Do you want LoLo to show you how to do this?” He brought his hand up, palm to the sky, and made just the tiniest of flames slowly bloom. “Not everything has to go full force.”

“Yes, LoLo.” She plopped herself into his lap, ignoring his grunt of surprise, bringing her hand up to match his. “LoLo. Fire. Do it? Fire.”

“Now then, Naoki. Do you know how to be soft?”

“Sof’?” Another one of those haughty frowns.

“Mmmm, that’s right. Soft.” He thought for a moment, and then slapped his free hand to the bench. “See that? That’s hard.”

“Ow,” was the solemn reply.

“Yes, that’s right. Hard often means ow.” He brought his hand back up. “But what if I do it softly? What if it was soft?” He put his hand slowly and gently on to the bench. “You see? Soft.”

She nodded. “Hard!” She slapped the bench with her own hand. “Ow!” Then she laid those chubby fingers on the bench. “Sof’. Do it?”

“Yes, just like that. Aren’t you the bright one! Hard and soft. Show me again.” At her look of confusion he repeated the words and the motion, nodding as her face lit up with comprehension.

“Hard, LoLo!” A smack. “Sof’.” Back down went the hand, patting the bench.

“That’s the way! Very good, Naoki.” He couldn’t help but grin back at her gleeful smile.

“Hard! Sof’!” Her hand followed.

“That’s right. Now, flame can be the same way.” He moved his hand away from her. “Hard!” He shot a jet of flame from his hand. “Now soft.” Just the barest little flicker. “Do you see?”

“Hard!” She shot forth flame and he threw up a hand to direct her arm away from him.

“Yes, you’ve got hard down, no problem. What about soft? Can you try soft?” He demonstrated.

She stuck her hand out, mimicking his and flame erupted. “Uh-oh.” Her face fell.

“Well, that’s okay, little one. It takes practice.”

“Budderfie! Budderfie, LoLo! Budderfie!” She squirmed down off the bench, laughing, running towards a red and yellow butterfly that was flitting its way towards the rhododendrons. He watched her dance along behind it, clapping her hands. “Budderfie!”

“You’re just like a butterfly yourself, aren’t you, little one?” He watched as she thrust her hand into the bushes, grasping for it, the remaining ribbon tearing itself free and left to dangle on an outstretched stem. “No fire though, okay? Not into the pretty flowers.”

“No fire, LoLo?” She stopped, turning to look at him.

“Not in the flower bushes, little Butterfly. If you want to play with fire you come over here and do it with LoLo, okay?” He gestured her over with two fingers.

“Do it! Fire!” She pulled her hand out and ran back to him, laughing, hands thrust out. “Hard? Do it?”

“Yes, but not towards me! That’s dangerous. Out in the air, Butterfly!” He pointed his hand to show her. “Send it there.”

She wheeled around and squinted, holding her hand out, letting it hover for a moment. The flame that came next was still wild but with considerably less volume. She let out with an elated scream. “LoLo! Do it! Sof’! Do it!”

“Well so you did! That’s my girl!” No doubt about it, he was looking at centuries of carefully cultivated firebender bloodlines, right there. Two year olds did not have that kind of control. Not normal ones, anyhow. He shook his head with a laugh. “You are something else, Butterfly.”

She leapt towards him, throwing herself into his lap as he quickly aimed her away from his knee. “Whoa, careful there, Butterfly. LoLo’s knee isn’t what it should be.” She wrapped her arms around his neck so tightly he had to shift her from crushing his throat. “Well, now. That was pretty exciting, wasn’t it?”

“Do it LoLo! Sof’!” Wriggling with joy, she landed a sloppy kiss directly under his eye.

“A kiss, is it?” He laughed, returning the kiss right atop her regal little nose. “Thank you, Butterfly. Nicest kiss I’ve had in I couldn’t tell you how long.” She squirmed out of his lap then, sitting next to him with a satisfied little grunt, her legs sticking straight out in front of her.

“Sof’, LoLo. Do it.” She leaned over to pat his hand. “Do it.”

He raised his hand, still smiling, and brought the tiny flame down to reflect in those beautiful golden eyes.


	9. An Assertion Of Parenthood: Wu Becomes A Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Wuko: _Cuddling in a blanket fort._

Mako nearly jumped out of his skin when the hand reached out from underneath what looked like an excellent example of a blanket fort and curled around his ankle.

“Shhhhh,” came Wu’s voice, very quietly. “You’ll wake her up.” Mako went to his knees and carefully and quietly moved aside one of the blankets. Wu was laying inside with one arm curled loosely around a sleeping Naoki, her limbs sprawled gracelessly across the rug. He smiled at Mako and motioned him in.

Mako eased in, trying to keep his head low. He settled himself down on the rug, shifting Naoki very slightly as he propped himself up on one hand, smiling across her to Wu.

“How was your day?” Wu whispered.

“Fine,” Mako whispered back. He very gently moved a stray whisp of hair from Naoki’s cheek before glancing around at the blankets enclosing them. “Whose idea was this?”

“Lozan’s. Or LoLo, I guess, that’s what she calls him, he seems to like it. He told me there wasn’t a child alive who didn’t like to build forts with blankets. He was right.” Wu looked at her. “I’ve never built one before. I hope it was satisfactory.”

“She’s only two. I’m sure she thought it was the best thing ever.”

“I hope so, Mako. I wish I knew what to do with her. I feel so stupid. At least she likes _you_.”

“She knows me a little bit. She doesn’t know you yet, but she will. Don’t worry about it so much, it’s only been a few days. It’s been a big change for her. Give her a little time to adjust.”

“That’s what LoLo says. I like him, Mako. I think we should keep him.”

“He’s not a stray, Wu. We can’t just _keep_ him.”

Wu dismissed this with a very small hand gesture, glancing down at Naoki to make sure she was still sleeping. He continued to whisper. “He told me today he doesn’t have anywhere else to go, now that’s he’s been discharged from the Navy. He said he could go back to his parents, but he didn’t look very happy about it.” Wu was quiet for a moment. “I was thinking, if he wanted to stay, we could remodel the study and the music room next to the kitchen, give him his own little suite. I wouldn’t want to ask him to walk up and down the stairs to the third floor or the flat above the garage, not with his knee the way it is. I can just as easily move those rooms up to the third floor, we’re not even using it as of yet.”

“Thought this all out, have you?”

“He’s very efficient, for one thing, and for another, I do like him. He cooks like a dream.”

“He is a damn fine cook, I will give you that.”

“Well, we have to get somebody, I can’t be expected to do any of it.”

Mako grinned at him. “You could always learn to cook.”

“Oh, and you could always learn the proper protocol as to how you greet each and every noble family in what was formerly the Earth Kingdom, but I guess you aren’t going to do that either, hmm? Newsflash! You should be giving what is referred to as the Half Crane Bow to your boss every time she walks into the room.”

“If I bowed to her when she walked into the room she’d bend my ass into next week.”

Wu rolled his eyes. “Republic City peasantry, that’s what you lot are.”

Before Mako could answer, Naoki opened her eyes and looked at him, scowling for a moment before looking back at Wu, knuckling at her eyes. “Papa,” she said, and buried her face into Wu’s chest. Wu’s arm automatically went around her to pull her close and he looked at Mako, his eyes filling up with tears as he smiled, that sweet smile that Mako loved so much. Mako’s eyes filled up as well.

“Papa’s right here, darling,” Wu said, and kissed the top of her head.


	10. An Underwater Campaign: Toys In The Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Wuko: _Taking a bath together._

Wu came into the bedroom, unbuttoning his jacket. 

“The Fire Nation is on our tail! Dive! Dive!”

Wu silently slipped off his shoes and jacket, tiptoeing to peek around the door leading into the bathroom. In the mirror he could see Mako, sitting in the bath, bubbles up to his chin, with two of Naoki’s toy boats in his hands.

“Damn it! They’re too close!”

Wu pulled back away from the door, biting his lips to keep from laughing. Quickly he stripped his clothes off, not even hanging them up carefully as was his usual custom.

“They’re building up speed! Captain! We’ll never outrun them!”

Wu stepped into the bathroom. “Can’t you bend lightning at them?”

“AUGH!” Mako shouted, half leaping up, water and bubbles surging out of the tub to puddle on the floor. The boats disappeared. “What the fuck! You damn near stopped my heart!”

Wu had to grab at the counter to stop himself from falling over, he was laughing so hard. 

“Damn it, Wu! I thought you were supposed to be out until late!”

Wu waved one hand in the air, still laughing. “ _Obviously_.”

Mako cheeks had turned a fascinating color and he went to cross his arms across his chest, forgetting his hands were full of boats. This only made Wu laugh harder. “Wu!”

“I’m sorry! Oh, don’t be grouchy, Mako. Come, it was funny. I don’t care if you play with the boats. Look, I’ll come and play boats with you.” Wu eased himself into the tub. “You could heat up the water a little, please.”

Mako obliged. “What happened at your meeting?”

Wu shrugged. “Oh, two of the ladies got into quite the heated argument and one of them revealed that she knew the other had had a little tryst with her husband. Scandal for _days_ , I assure you. Very entertaining, but it did mean an early end to the evening, alas.” He held out his hand. “A boat, if you please.”

“Don’t make fun.”

“I am most certainly not making fun. I have never played with a toy in the bath, I am quite looking forward to it. What kind of a boat is it?” 

Mako handed him one of the toys. “It’s not a boat, it’s a submarine. They go under the water.” Mako demonstrated under the bubbles. 

“Have you ever been on one?”

“What, a submarine? No.”

“We should ask Iroh for a ride in one.”

Mako got the irritated look on his face that he got whenever Iroh’s name was mentioned. “Hmph.”

“So is my boat the bad guys’ boat or the good guys’ boat?”

“Which do you want to be?”

“Oh, the bad guys, naturally!” Wu’s eyes lit up.

“Fine, you’re the Fire Nation.”

Wu clapped his hands together, nearly crushing his boat. “Excellent!” He made a noise like a car driving off as he pushed his toy through the tub.

“Wu, it’s a submarine, not a car.”

“Oh whatever, Mako. You had best move your boat there along with some alacrity, because when I catch your boat I shall bomb it right out of the water.”

“You can try,” Mako said, and sent his own boat plunging down.


	11. Apropos Of Nothing: Rumors Abound In Ba Sing Se

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something silly that came out of a [tumblr conversation.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/post/124835330731/dai-li-strippers-do-have-earth-kingdom-symbols) Thanks to dai-li-sargeant and vyanni-krace-666 for playing along!
> 
> What the Dai Li do on their nights off.

It was late by the time Mako got home, and he was worn out. Too keyed up to sleep, but he wanted to do nothing more than take a hot shower and maybe have a finger or two of whiskey. He assumed everyone would already be asleep, but he could see a single dim light burning upstairs in their bedroom window, behind the curtains. Wu must be awake, then. Maybe up with the baby. He parked the car in the garage and slid his shoes off before he tiptoed into the kitchen entrance. He didn't want to wake LoLo.

Wu was up, pacing the bedroom floor, half-asleep and swaying automatically, Zhi held up to his shoulder. He smiled as Mako crept into the bedroom and put his finger to his lips. Mako pointed towards the bathroom and Wu nodded. He gave a kiss to Wu's temple as he passed by and glanced down at the baby; he looked to be sleeping, but Zhi was tricky that way. Just when you thought it was safe to lay him down his eyes would pop open and then you'd have to start the whole jiggle-sway routine from the get-go. Always better to be safe than sorry with Zhi. Naoki, on the other hand, could sleep through a triad war going on over her head. Nothing woke that girl up.

He got into the shower and turned the hot water up as high as he could stand it, breathing out a little sigh. He smelled like the cheap perfume that one of the women had been wearing; something overly sweet and cloying with a metallic undertaste. Nasty stuff. She'd kept trying to sit in his lap, putting her arms around him sloppily and making kissing noises in his ear. He'd finally appealed to his partner, Chiyo, to get her off of him. Chiyo rolled her eyes, but she'd firmly escorted Miss Yum-Yum away for questioning. Miss Yum-Yum. You'd think that if someone was going to take on a stripper name they'd think of something slightly more inspiring than Miss Yum-Yum. Like Miss Sugar Queen, maybe. No, that wasn't any good either. Jade Blossom? No wait, that was the name of the girl in those sandbender romances Wu liked so much. What about -

"You know, some men might get a little jealous if their husbands showed up at home with red lipstick on their collars."

Mako jumped. Damn, but Wu was sneaky. He hadn't even heard him come in.

"Shit, do you think they can get it out at the laundry?" He poked his head out of the shower to see Wu grinning at him, holding his shirt and raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, I'm certain your collar wouldn't be the first to arrive thus soiled." 

Mako snorted at this. "Did the baby go down?"

Wu sighed. "Well, let's hope so. I swear that child wakes himself up on purpose. It's like he can't stand to sleep and miss out on anything." He yawned.

"Give me a sec, let me rinse the soap off." He rinsed himself, turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist before noticing that Wu had left him a glass with exactly two fingers of whiskey in it. Bless the man. He swallowed it down before brushing his teeth and going back into the bedroom. Wu was in bed, propped up on the pillows, reading his novel. He glanced up as Mako walked in, took a bookmark from off of his nightstand and placed it inside the book before putting the book down. "Thank you for using a bookmark."

"You're welcome. Rough night?"

Mako stretched, his spine popping, and then tugged on a pair of clean shorts before sliding into bed. "Agni Kai hit a strip joint."

Wu covered up his laughter with his hand. "That would explain that particularly garish shade of red."

Mako rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me. Compliments of Miss Yum-Yum, who kept trying to give me a lap dance. Which, contrary to popular belief, I did _not_ want."

"Miss Yum-Yum? Oh come now, she could have done better than that. Mochi Delight, if she wanted to stick with the edible theme. Succulent Dumpling, perhaps."

" _You'd_ be Succulent Dumpling."

"I _am_ a succulent dumpling, and don't you forget it. You've already got a stripper name, Officer Hotpants."

"Call me that to my face!"

Wu tilted his head over to kiss him, mumbling, "Officer Hotpants," against his lips. Mako laughed and leaned over him to shut the lamp off, settling down onto his pillow, Wu's head resting on his chest. The room was dimly lit by moonlight and he could just make out Wu's profile in it as his eyes adjusted.

"I've never been to a strip joint, you know. Plenty of nightclubs, obviously, but never an actual premises that uses garment removal as a means of titillation."

Mako shrugged in the darkness. "Used to collect at them when I was running numbers for the Triple Threats but I wasn't actually watching the shows or anything. Well. That's not true, I watched what I could while I was waiting. But I wasn't there as a customer. Not my thing." He chuckled. "Well, I guess it was my thing when I was fifteen or so. Not my thing now."

"Rumor had it that the Dai Li had their own private strip club."

"Get the fuck out!"

"I can't attest to the veracity of the rumor, mind - I certainly wasn't allowed in the underground tunnels under the palace or anything - but it was one of those commonly accepted kind of things."

Mako carded his fingers through Wu's hair. "Someone gossiped about that to _you_?"

"Don't be daft, Mako, of course they didn't. My great-aunt would have had their heads. I listened in at keyholes and hid behind tapestries, that kind of thing. You get all the best gossip that way."

"Little sneak. So. A Dai Li strip club, huh?"

"Well, you've been to part of the underground city, right?"

"Not to see a show, that's for damn sure."

That got a little huff of laughter from Wu. "Who knows what all they had down there. I shudder to think, really. I do know they trained there and that's where their barracks were, that wasn't a secret or anything. Everyone knew. But other than that, your guess is as good as mine."

"I can tell you they had a prison."

"Ooh, my very own nefarious hoodlum!" That got him a tug on his hair for his trouble. "You do like to try out local prisons, don't you?"

"Don't remind me. So. Strip club, hmm? I wonder what kind of stripper names they had?"

"I'd wager they were all virile rock sorts of names. Mr. Granite. The Boulder. Master Fist."

Mako was shaking with laughter. "I was thinking that they had women working down there, not that the Dai Li themselves were stripping!"

"Oh please, those Dai Li. I know for a fact Wei Beifong went through half of them in one fell swoop. I certainly never heard of any women down there!"

"Sexist pigs."

"Among other things. Although look at the Kyoshis, they're only women. And frankly, I'd go with Yumi over a Dai Li any day."

"That makes two of us. So. Stripper Dai Li agents. Do you suppose they kept their hats on while they were stripping?"

"Naturally. And they had little uniform Dai Li g-strings, complete with the Earth Kingdom symbol covering up their little Dai Li's. Oh! And pasties that looked just like their hats! With matching tassels! If they were really good they could swirl the tassels in circles! Think of the training possibilities!" Wu sat up and moved his fingers around in circles in front of his own pajama-clad nipples to demonstrate.

Mako was really laughing now. "Did they gave each other tips?"

"Why do you think they invented those flying rock fists? Cram a few yuan in it, send it soaring! What's a few bruises and broken ribs for a good tip?"

"Well, damn! There were no yuan in the rock fists that hit me!"

"Should have taken your clothes off first. You probably would have collected quite the payload."

Mako wrapped his arms around him and pulled him back down to his own pillow. "Anybody ever tell you that you have quite the imagination?"

"A time or two." Wu's face nearly creased itself in half with a yawn, which triggered Mako into his own yawn. "Oh spirits, I'm tired."

Mako kissed him. "Go to sleep, then. Dream of Dai Li swirling their tassels."

"Rather dream of you," mumbled Wu, already sliding into sleep.

Dai Li pasties with tassels. Oh, Wu. Mako smiled to himself as he closed his own eyes and held his husband close.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was illustrated for me by [The Dai Li Sargeant](http://dai-li-sergeant.tumblr.com/) (AKA Master Fist) himself.
> 
> I AM DYING.


	12. A Relaxing Proposition: Korra Massages Asami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Korra and Asami: _Shoulder rubs._

Asami stretched her neck to one side with a deep crunching noise. She put her pen down for a moment to rub her forehead, suppressing a yawn.

“Time to quit yet?” Korra spoke up from the sofa in the far corner of Asami’s office. Asami hadn’t even noticed her sitting there.

“I should probably finish up these sets of figures for this quarter’s sales revenue first.”

“Yeah. What I heard was blah blah sales blah I am not going to eat any dinner once again blah.”

Asami smiled. “I did eat lunch. Am I forgiven?”

“Put it in writing, I’ll consider it.” Korra hopped off the sofa and came over to peer at the papers on the desk. “I don’t know how you wade through this every month. It makes zero sense to me.”

“It doesn’t make much more sense to me, that’s why it always takes me so long to do it. Accounting isn’t really part of my skill set.”

“And once again, why is it you can’t hire someone else to do it for you?” Korra crossed her arms over her chest.

“Korra. You know how I feel about it. I can’t risk losing this company. I’ve been screwed over too many times in the past.”

“How hard can it be to find someone you’d trust?” Korra came around the back of Asami’s chair and dug her strong fingers into Asami’s neck and shoulders. “You feel like a rock. How long do you think you can keep this up?”

“As long as I have to,” Asami said. Her voice was weary. She sighed and closed her eyes as Korra tried to ease the knots out.

“But if you could find someone you could trust, would you consider it? Turning over the financial part at least?”

“I would consider it. Contrary to popular belief I don’t actually want to be spending all of my time trying to get all of these numbers right. While I’m busy doing this I can’t work on any of the prototypes for the new motorcycle. Which is what I want to be doing right now, believe me.”

Korra kissed the back of her neck. “I’m not trying to make it more difficult, sorry.” Asami reached a hand up to her neck and squeezed one of Korra’s hands in hers before letting it drop. Korra continued to work the knots out of Asami’s neck until she let out with a gasp. “Oh, found a spot there.” She dug a little deeper with her fingers. “I had lunch with Mako and Bo last week.”

“I remember. You told me.”

“Their cousin is finishing up her degree at Republic City University. Meng-Meng. You remember her, one of the refugees?”

“Do I remember her?”

“Sure you do, she’s the one who told Mako to pull his head out of his ass that one time.”

Asami gave a little laugh. “Okay, yeah. _That_ one. I remember her.”

“Anyhow, Mako mentioned that she would be graduating next month. She’s been studying both business and finance there. According to Mako, she’s a whiz at numbers. Better than he is, he said.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And you know Mako. He wouldn’t say it if he didn’t believe it.”

“That’s true.”

“So I was thinking, maybe you should give her a call. See if she wants a job or something.”

Asami pulled away from Korra to look up at her. “Are you trying to get me to hire Mako’s cousin?”

Korra shrugged. “Well, you know her at least, right? Mako seems to really think highly of her. And you know I love to give Mako shit but if he thinks she’s good then I’d trust his judgement.”

Asami looked back down and Korra put her hands back on her shoulders, pressing in. “I would too, if it came to that. Oh, I don’t know.”

“Look, why don’t we invite her over for dinner or something? You can talk to her, get a better feel for her. Nobody is saying you have to do something you don’t want to. It’s just dinner.”

“Is this how you handle international relations? Give people shoulder rubs and bully them into inviting people over to dinner?”

“Hey, it’s the new and improved Avatar. Service with a smile!”

Asami laughed and leaned back into her. “I really do hate accounting.”

“Yeah, I know you do. And maybe she’s not what you are looking for. But she might be. And at least we know her and her family.”

“Mmmmm. I guess I can call Mako and ask him about her.”

“Do that. You know he’ll be honest with you about her.” Korra ran her fingers through Asami’s hair.

“Yeah, I know.” 

“Come on. I know you've got to get this done but you can spare a little time for dinner. I’ve got an arctic hen roasting in the oven.”

“You do?”

“I’m an all-purpose Avatar.”

“Lucky me.”

“Lucky you.” Korra wrapped her arms around her and laid her cheek on the top of Asami’s head.


	13. An Exercise In Nurturing: Wu Plays Nurse In The Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Wuko: _Finding the other wearing their clothes._ and _Patching up a wound._

“Aaah! You don’t have to stab me like that!”

“I am not _stabbing_ you, Mako. What a great baby you are! That’s what you get for trying to act the hero. At your age, too. Really. Now hold still, you’ve still got rocks stuck in your knee.”

“Ow!”

“My word! Even Meili is quieter than you, and she’s only two.”

“I bet you don’t dig the tweezers into Meili the way you’re doing to me!”

“I wouldn’t dig them into you if you would just _sit still_. Gracious! I think I’ve got them all out now anyhow. Well, at least most of the bleeding has stopped. What on earth possessed you to jump off the swing like that in midair?”

“I was trying to show Zhi how to do it.”

“May I remind you that you are not an airbender?”

“No way. You are not pouring that stuff on my knee. Forget it. It’s fine now.”

“I need to disinfect it, do you want it to get infected? Spirits know what kind of germs are all over a children’s playground. Now hold still a moment-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Damn it, Wu! That stings!”

“That’s what happens when you make an ass of yourself in front of an audience. No! You sit right back down, don’t you dare walk away until I’m finished! Honestly, Mako! You are a bad influence on the children.”

“Don’t pour more on it!”

“Be still!”

“DAMN IT! That _stings_ , I tell you! You are the worst nurse _ever_.”

“There. All clean. Now I’ll put some of the salve on it and wrap it up.”

“I want my jacket back.”

“What?”

“I gave you my jacket because you were cold and now you are paying me back by destroying my knee.”

“And here I thought you destroyed your own knee by catapulting yourself through the air like a fool. There. You see? All done. You’ll need to change your trousers when we get home, though, you’ve put a big rent in the knee in those ones.”

“What are you doing?”

“Taking off your jacket, the way you demanded.”

“Well, you don’t have to take it off. And anyway, since when do you carry a first aid kit to the park?”

“Since always, Mako. I have snacks in my bag as well. Qi and I always come prepared to the park.”

“Hmph.”

“Well hmph yourself.”

“Thank you for fixing my knee.”

“You’re welcome. No, don’t throw the rocks away, Naoki made me promise to save them so she could look at them. Don’t look at me like that, she gets it from you, not me. Here. Have a mochi. It’s a coconut one. Your favorite. Take one to Zhi while you are at it, he’s still over there waiting for you to push him on the swings. All that shouting you did, I’m surprised the neighbors aren’t out looking to see who was murdered.”

“Love you.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Now go limp away while I clean up this mess. The children are waiting on you.”


	14. An Unwelcome Advancement: Wu Accepts A Ride Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archived from a Tumblr prompt.
> 
> This directly precedes [Chapters 23-25](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4821509/chapters/11387194) in the Love Is In The Details collection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a trigger warning for sexual assault in this chapter.

“Are you certain? I could easily get a cab.” Wu adjusted his hat in the entryway mirror, nodding his thanks as an attendant from the Opera House handed him his gloves. **  
**

“Not a problem. Besides, you’re practically on the way. I’ve just moved into those high rises looking over the bridge.” Reiji threw his silk scarf around his neck. “Such a shame Mako couldn’t make it tonight.” His smile was slow and lazy, something well-noted among the fashionable and unmarried set of Republic City.

“Work thing,” Wu replied tersely. He did not want to talk about Mako. Especially not about the fact that once again he’d failed to show up when he’d said he would.

Reiji tsked. “Such admirable work, though. Keeping Republic City safe for the rest of us upstanding citizens.”

“Mmmm.” He tugged his gloves on with more force than necessary.

“What about your little driver?”

“Ah, I gave Qi the night off tonight.” Because, of course, he’d thought that Mako would be joining him, as he’d promised he would. Well, more fool he. How many promises had Mako broken, how many commitments had he disregarded, all in the name of his job? “I’m afraid I’m quite alone tonight.”

“Who am I to turn down the pleasure of your company?” He leaned over and brushed at a speck of something on his shoulder, letting his hand linger for a moment. “I never get you to myself.”

“Well, tonight’s your chance,” he replied, trying to put a smile back on his face while taking up his walking stick. “Shall we?”

Reiji had a just off the line pale blue Satomobile, something which he clearly wanted to show off. Wu smiled and murmured a few polite words about it. He had never cared one way or the other about cars; Qi would most likely be interested, but of course Qi wasn’t there. They had balked at not taking him this evening, had actually started to argue with him, something which they’d never done before. It surprised him, how vehement Qi had been.  _If he comes then I’ll just go home,_ they had said, keys clutched in their hand. _It ain’t right that you should go by yourself. Who’s to look out for you? It’s my job!_  They had gotten so agitated that even LoLo had come out of the kitchen, putting his arm around Qi, trying to calm them down. It was so totally unlike them that he’d wavered, nearly letting them have their way. He’d finally put his foot down, however, wanting to give Mako the benefit of the doubt. Well, he’d apologize to Qi in the morning, let them know they were right and that he’d not do it again. Reiji was kind to give him a ride, but he wished nothing more than to be in the back of his own car where he could close his eyes in peace, knowing Qi would get him safely home. The guest soprano from Omashu had been, in his opinion, subpar, and the gala dinner had been both tasteless as well as overspiced, something which he’d yet to comprehend. He’d been nursing a headache for the past several hours and his bed was calling him. He just wanted to be done with the evening.

“…so which is it?” Reiji glanced over at him, the flash of a streetlamp quickly illuminating his face before sending it back into shadow again.

“I…I’m terribly sorry, I’m not quite focusing.” He offered an apologetic smile. “It’s been a long evening.”

“Are you trying to say I’m boring?” Reiji shot him a look, smirking.

“Not in the slightest,” he said automatically, putting out a placating hand. “I’m afraid I’m not the best company tonight.”

“Well, I guess I can find a way for you to make it up to me.” He grinned, and Wu made a noncommittal noise. Oh, what he wouldn’t give for Qi’s blessed silence in the car! As soon as he got home he’d ask LoLo for some willowbark tea, take a long shower, and go to bed. Things would be better in the morning. They were always better in the morning. Spirits of his ancestors but he was tired of asking Mako and hearing excuses, though. Every single time.

“So I was asking, which is it?”

“It?” He hauled his attention back to Reiji. Why hadn’t he taken a cab? He didn’t have any money on him, of course, but he had an account with the Prosperous Coin Cab Company for those times when anyone in the family needed one.

“Is your marriage on the rocks due to Mako having an affair or is it due to irreconcilable differences? Not that I can blame you, Mako’s always struck me as a bit of a cold fish.”

“I beg your pardon?” Well, if Reiji had wanted his attention he surely had it now.

“Oh come on, Wu. Everyone’s speculating. Give over.” Reiji grinned at him, and motioned at his mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

“My marriage is not on the rocks, thank you very much.” He could feel his face getting hotter. How dare he?

“Really?” He sat back, fingers tapping on the wheel. “So it’s an open thing, is it?” He shrugged. “Whatever gets you bending, I guess.” He brought the car to a halt as lights flashed overhead, warning of an incoming tram.

“An open thing?” Was the man insinuating that he and Mako…no. Absolutely not. “I have no idea how you have even begun to think-”

He was cut off as Reiji put a hand to the back of his head, knocking his hat askew and pulling him forcefully forward, smashing his mouth into his. He froze for just a moment, his brain trying to understand what was happening  _Is this me? Is this really happening to me?_  before he brought a hand up, trying to push at whatever part of Reiji’s anatomy he found first. Reiji just laughed into his mouth, however, and shoved his tongue in there. He tried to pull his head back, but was no match for Reiji’s strength. “Stop! Stop!” he spit out, trying to wrench himself away, pulling his head sharply to the left. “No!”

“Oh come on,” Reiji said, still laughing, bringing his other arm around to hold him still. “You’re a master at hard to get but are we going to do this all night?” He forced his mouth back on to his and Wu’s throat closed up with fear and revulsion. A part of him knew he was no physical match for Reiji; even as desperate as he was to get away he wasn’t going to be able to break free. Panic was digging its claws in but he had enough sense to understand that the more he struggled the more Reiji thought he was playing a game.  _What would Qi do? How would Qi get out of this?_

He stopped struggling and let the man kiss him, fighting to stay calm. He couldn’t bring himself to kiss him back, but he let him shift into the kiss before gently breaking away from it, pulling his head back with a smile. Reiji started to return it and as he did, Wu drove his forehead as hard and fast as he could into his. Reiji let out with a howl and let go of him, putting a hand up to his forehead.

“What the fuck! What the fuck is wrong with you?” His fingers carefully felt for blood.

“I said no,” he hissed, and he fumbled the door open. “You loathsome bastard.” He slid out of the car, snatching up his walking stick as Reiji reached for him, nearly tripping over himself backwards in his haste. “Or is rape the only way you can manage your filthy little trysts?”

“You little shit.” Reiji’s voice had gone hard. “Cocktease.”

“Oh, believe me, if I had wanted to tease your cock you’d be in no doubt whatsoever that it was my intention.” He slammed the door as hard as he could manage. The utter audacity of the man! And now he’d resorted to vulgarity, like the common peasant he knew Reiji himself was. “I most certainly was doing nothing of the sort. I’m afraid your own self-aggrandizement has quite stupefied whatever infinitesimal wit you wield.”

“Is that so? Well, enjoy your own company on your walk home, then.” He gunned the motor, the tires squealing as he roared across the tracks, the oncoming tram’s bells clanging as the driver rang them furiously. The tram rushed by and Wu stood there, his chest heaving. He reached a shaking hand into his breast pocket, taking out his handkerchief and wiping at his mouth, over and over again. How dare he? How could he?

Fighting off nausea, he started to walk. He crossed the tracks, stick clutched to his chest, stumbling along on feet he couldn’t feel, his own breathing harsh in his ears. Never in all his life had anyone touched him like this, and he’d been kidnapped and stuffed into a bag of dirty laundry, for the love of Raava. He’d never had any mouth on his but Mako’s, and he’d never wanted anyone else’s, either. And now this vile upstart thought that he could just touch him at will? He dared? He actually dared? Through a gap in the high-rises he saw the flame from the Firelord’s statue at the Central Train Station but he kept moving, unable to think of anything but the feel of Reiji’s tongue in his mouth, a repulsive thing, gristle and muscle, shoving in where it wasn’t welcome.

He wasn’t sure how long he walked; long past the station, past where the streetlights were set precisely apart from each other, past the point where the streets were regularly cleaned. There were some people out and about that late, but he wasn’t registering them, his mind relentlessly circling over and over and around what had happened. It was only when someone grabbed his arm roughly, yanking him out of his fugue state, that he realized that he had been very foolish indeed.

“Yer money,” the man muttered, his grip tightening, the alcohol on his breath rotten and sweet through the blackened stumps of his teeth. “Now.”

“I don’t have any money,” he stammered, his heart racing. “I don’t carry-” A tug on his walking stick and it slid out of his arm and he felt the breeze of it swinging past him as it connected with a meaty thud on the head of the man holding him. The man stared into his eyes, looking politely puzzled, before sagging down to the pavement, sprawling gracelessly onto his face. Hand to his chest, he spun to see what looked like a teenage boy, hat pulled low over his eyes, shapeless in dark, ragged clothing. “I truly don’t carry any money. I give you my word! You can keep the stick, it would be worth something, please.”

The boy glanced up at him and then away, hunching his shoulders. “Shouldn’t be here. Ain’t safe. Why ain’tcha in your own place?”

“I…I had an altercation…er, I mean that someone attacked me. And I was walking and I…” He swallowed. “I…are you going to hurt me?” His voice was soft and high with fear. He couldn’t stop shaking.

“Ain’t gonna. But you can’t be here.” The boy looked around, nodded at a building across the street. “Come on, you go in there, you be safe enough. You got someone who can come getcha?”

“I don’t…would it be possible to get a taxicab?” He tried a smile and failed. “I have an account with the Prosperous Coin Cab Company. I…I’m Prince Wu Hou-Ting.” It occurred to him, as he said it, that it was probably a very bad idea to identify himself as one of the richest citizens in the city. “I am afraid I don’t even know where I am.”

“Know who you are. I’ll getcher cab. Come now.” The boy motioned him across the street and he followed, not knowing what else to do. He supposed this boy might be taking him somewhere even worse than this street but he clung to the hope that he truly meant him no harm. Oh, he was a fool, such a fool. What would Mako say to him? Mako would be so very furious with him and he quailed to think what Lin would say. How had this evening gone so wrong so fast? He was so afraid.

The place in question was clearly a bar. It was unlike anywhere else he’d been to in his life; a bit dark and shabby, full of noisy, rough people who were singing and shouting along with a man who was warbling a loud ditty about a fan dancer, laughing raucously. He garnered plenty of looks when he came in, some hostile and all of them curious. He tried very hard not to cringe.

“Sit. Don’t move.” The boy pushed him into a chair with surprising gentleness, going across to the bar and speaking to the woman behind it. She sent him a long, measuring look, and then nodded, waving over a girl who was wiping down some tables. The boy said something to the girl, and with a nod from the barkeep she walked back behind the bar, disappearing behind a curtain, the boy following her. The woman took up a glass and poured something into it before coming around the bar and walking over to him.

“So. Heard you had a night.” She handed him the glass.

“Oh, I do beg your pardon, but I have no money to pay for this.”

She waved that off. “Just as well. You had, it’d be gone by now. It’s on the house. My girl is callin’ you a cab. Yer safe enough in here, but just keep still and quiet, mind. I’ll keep an eye out but some of these folks get to drinkin’, they’ll come for you for no reason at all. The boy’s out watchin’ for your cab, he’ll come fetch you when it comes.” She gazed at him for a moment. “My girl here, she’s my cousin’s. Her Ma is dead and her Da’s no good. She learned how to read from your charity, yeah? Her basics, knows her numbers. Smart kid. I want that she earns her coin doing somethin’ else than getting it on her back. So you just consider that a thanks from me.” She gave him a sharp nod and then walked back to the bar.

He raised the glass and took a cautious sip; he had no idea what it was but it was rough and strong, making him gasp and sputter as it burned. He needed it, though, so with a deep breath he drank it all in two swift, deep swallows, nearly choking as it went down. “Good gracious,” he murmured, coughing into his handkerchief, tears welling. He caught the barkeep’s eye and she winked at him, sending a flashing grin his way. He returned it with a weak smile of his own, trying not to gag at the fire in his throat.

He was there for a while longer; he tried very hard to remain as inconspicuous as possible, being certain he didn’t make eye-contact. Qi had told him once that making eye-contact was a bad idea in the neighborhood they were from. He had no idea if this was Qi’s old neighborhood - he suspected not, this wasn’t a good neighborhood, per se, but there were still streetlights outside and the bar itself was at least clean and he had suspected, by the very rare things Qi said about their own background, that Qi came from much worse - but he figured it was better to do as Qi had said. He was actually beginning to pick up the chorus from the song about the fan dancer when the boy materialized in front of him.

“Ah. I take it my cab is here?”

The boy nodded with a quick jerk of his shoulder, eyes on the floor, and something in that nod teased at his memories, tried to get past the alcohol and shock to nag at his consciousness. “Do I…do I know you?”

The boy didn’t answer him, just pointed towards the door.

“I…yes. Well. Thank you.” He stood up, looking down at himself. He’d lost his hat at some point, although he still had his scarf and gloves. The boy still had a tight grip on his walking stick. “Yes.” He walked out of the bar, keeping his eyes averted, into the chill of the night beyond. The cab was right outside, the familiar gold coin logo glinting in the dim light overhead. He took a deep breath and reached for the door handle.

“Yer stick.” The boy stuck it out towards him. He merely smiled.

“No, you keep it. Please consider it a very grateful thank you. I appreciate all you have done for me tonight. I won’t forget it.” He cocked his head, trying to peer under the slouchy cap. “Are you sure I don’t know you?”

“Go on, get home.” The boy took the stick back into the cradle of his arms. Wu hovered for a moment - wasn’t there something more he could do for this boy? - but he gave it up. If the boy wanted to stay anonymous there was not much he could do about it. With a resigned nod, Wu slid inside the cab.

“Prince Wu, is it? In this neighborhood? Land o’mercy.” The driver, a bluff, florid man, turned around in his seat. “Took your majordomo to the shops just last week. You live across from Flowering Plum Park, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” he said, and sat back with a sigh. His headache had worsened into what felt like wolfbats burrowing into his skull and he suspected he might be developing a bruise where he’d struck Reiji’s forehead with his own. He sincerely hoped he would not vomit in the backseat.

“Well, we’ll get you home quick as quick can.”

“You won’t mind if I’m quiet on the way, will you? I’ve had a very trying evening.” He gave the cabbie a tremulous smile, wiping at his mouth with his handkerchief again.

The man peered at him in the rearview mirror. “Gotcha loud and clear, Your Highness. Mum’s the word. You just relax back there and you’ll be home before you know it.”

He glanced outside the window at the boy, still standing there, his brown eyes meeting his for the briefest of moments before the boy spun away, disappearing into the night as the cabbie drove the car forward. He could have sworn he knew the boy from somewhere; it was no use, however. His brain simply wouldn’t cooperate. With another sigh he closed his eyes and reminded himself that he was safe now. He’d be home soon.


	15. An Endemic Walkabout: Mako Catches A Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Wuko: _Caring for each other while ill._

“Why are you out of bed?”

“I’m fine.” 

Wu looked Mako over. His nose was bright red, his cheeks were pale and he hadn’t shaved in two days. Never mind the black circles under his eyes and the fact that he sounded like a wolfbat had taken over his chest.

“That’s up for debate.”

“I don’t want to be in bed any more.”

“Mmmm. Well, I’d really rather you didn’t walk amongst us, shedding mucus like a snake sheds its skin.”

Mako stared at him blearily.

“You’re contagious, Mako. Go back to bed.”

“I’m fine. Just going to get some tea.” He coughed, a thick rasping noise. Then he sneezed, a sound loud enough to echo.

Wu stared at him and his lip curled up. “And there go the germs. I’ll bring you some tea. Go back to bed.”

“Don’t wanna. Wanna get my own tea.”

Wu sighed and stood up, putting his book down. “Mako, please don’t be balky. I know you dislike staying in bed. However, you will get better far more quickly if you do.”

“I don’t wanna be extra trouble.”

“Having you stay in bed for two weeks instead a few days because you point blank refuse to care for yourself properly _is_ extra trouble, as it happens.”

Mako’s lower lip stuck out in a beautiful pout. “You’re picking on me.”

“Darling, I am not picking on you. I am sending you back to bed.”

“If you loved me you’d let me get my own tea.”

“Yes, you’ve figured it all out. I don’t love you at all. Now go back to bed.”

“You’re meeeeeeean.”

“And you’re whining. Come along now. Be a good boy and go back to bed and I’ll bring you some tea. If you are an especially good boy I’ll rub your chest with that liniment that Qi brought you.”

“Qi brought me liniment. Qi loves me.”

“Undoubtedly.”

“But I’m boooored.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Do you want me to read to you?”

“I don’t like your books. I don’t care if Lord Farty-ass puts his tongue down Lady Fancy-pants’s throat.”

Wu took a deep breath and mentally counted to three. “I will read you one of your books, then. You may choose. Now come along, back to bed.”

“I want to sit down here.”

“Mako, so far I have kept the children healthy, and that is in large part due to keeping you secluded from them. Do you really want them to catch this from you?”

“No!”

Wu’s eyes narrowed and his mouth flattened into a thin line.  _“Then go back to bed.”_

“Don’t yell at me! I’m sick! Why would you yell at me?” Mako looked like a small poodle monkey that had been kicked. 

Wu pointed towards the stairs. “Bed.”

“But I -”

“Bed.”

“I want -”

“Bed.”

“You aren’t -”

“ _Bed_.”

“You’re so mean. You aren’t the boss of me, you know.”

“My darling, I have been the boss of you since that day you first walked into my suite at the Four Elements. Everyone knows it. We only pretend otherwise to make you feel better. Now. You are going to walk back up those stairs. You are going to get back into bed, and I will bring you some tea and rub liniment into your chest and then I will read to you a bit until you fall asleep.”

“Until I fall asleep?”

“Yes. Until you fall asleep.”

“Okay. I hate sleeping alone in the bed. I hate it when you don’t sleep with me.”

“I know, darling. I don’t like it any more than you do. I miss you too but it can’t be helped. I really can’t afford to get ill at the moment. Now, go on up.” 

Mako turned and dragged himself towards the stairs, shuffling his feet. “Wu?”

“Yes?”

“Can I have a mochi? One of the coconut ones?”

“If you are in bed by the time I come up with the tea then I will give you a mochi.”

“A coconut one?”

“A coconut one.”

“Okay.” Mako started to haul himself up the stairs, blasting out another sneeze as he went.

Wu sighed to himself and rolled his eyes. “Coconut mochi. What a baby.” He walked into the kitchen.


	16. A Sweet Remembrance: LoLo Talks To Norbu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> LoLo and Norbu: _Cuddling in a blanket fort_ and _Sharing a dessert._

“Bu? You in there, sweetheart?”

A little head peeked out from between two of the blankets. “Hi, LoLo. I’m here.”

“Well, why the long face?”

Bu’s lower lip quivered. “Everybody went to the park to play, but Mommy says I can’t go today because I couldn’t breathe so good last night. And Meili’s taking a nap. I’m all by myself.”

“Meili had to take a nap, sweetheart, but I agree, it’s no fun that everyone else went to the park and left you alone. So what do you say, can I come in?”

Bu’s face brightened. “Sure! Come on in!”

LoLo lowered himself carefully to the floor, ignoring the furious protest from his knee. “This is quite a fine fort you’ve got here. How many chairs?”

“Eight whole chairs!”

“That’s a pretty big fort!” He slid himself inside to sit with his bad leg straight out in front of him, gritting his teeth a bit. “Whose idea was it to add the hole up there at the top?”

“Oh, Zhi’s. He said we needed plenty of air and that we could also use it to watch for enemy spies.”

“Well, that’s Zhi for you. Now, guess what I have?”

“A book?”

LoLo smiled. “No, not a book. Guess again.”

Bu screwed up his face, thinking hard. “A pillow?”

“Nope!”

“I don’t know, LoLo! Tell me!” Bu’s eyes were shining. “Is it a good surprise?”

“It sure is!” LoLo produced two slabs of plum cake from the pocket of his apron, wrapped in napkins. “Look at that! You like plum cake!”

“I like yours!” Bu took a little nibble off the edge. “LoLo, when you were little, did you like to build forts?”

“I did. We used to build grand ones. Although one time I remember we built one outside with my mother’s clean sheets that she’d left out on the line to dry and oh boy, we got in big trouble for that one.”

Bu giggled. “Was your Mommy real mad?”

“Oh, you better believe it. We got those sheets all muddy. She made us wash them all over again and we had to get out all the mud. That was the last time we did _that_ , let me tell you.”

“Do you have brothers and sisters?”

“I'll say I do. I’m the oldest, and I have five brothers and three sisters, all of them living in the Fire Nation.”

“Wow! That’s a lot. Did you have a favorite brother or sister?”

LoLo reached across and smoothed Bu’s hair back. “I did, yes. My littlest brother, Juzaburo. We called him Juza for short. He was born when I was fourteen.”

“So he was lots younger than you. Is he still your favorite now? When was the last time you saw him?”

LoLo’s face stilled. “Ah. Well, I haven’t seen him in a long time. A very long time.”

“How come? Did you have a fight?”

“No. He...well, honey, he had to leave us. When he was only three. It happens sometimes. He...it’s a long story. A story for when you’re older, if you still want to hear it.”

Bu reached over and hugged LoLo. “You have such a sad face right now. Are you sad about it?”

“Yes, honey. I’m sad about it. I will probably always be sad about. He was a very special little boy and I still miss him. You remind me a lot of him.”

“I do?”

LoLo kissed the top of Bu’s head. “You sure do. He was sweet and funny and precious, just like you are.”

“Was your Mommy sad, when he had to go?”

“Oh honey, she was. She really was. My father, too. We were all sad. I was so sad I didn’t even want to live in my house any more, that’s why I went off and joined the Navy.”

“But LoLo, wasn’t your Mommy sad that you left, too?”

“Yes. She was. She was very sad. Now that I’m all grown up I wish I hadn’t done it.”

“Is she still sad?”

“That I left, you mean? No, I don’t think so, not any more. It was a long time ago.”

“Maybe someday I could meet your Mommy! Do you think she would like me?”

LoLo cuddled Bu into his arms, kissing him on both cheeks. “I know she would like you. Very very much. Almost as much as I do, I bet.”

“LoLo?”

“Yes, Bu?”

“I’m really glad we’re friends.”

LoLo held the child close. “Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”


	17. An Unveiled Threat: Mako Gives A Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archived from a Tumblr prompt. This follows directly from [Chapter 4](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3451310/chapters/7657166) of Bouncing Off Clouds.
> 
> Mako gives Wei a warning about Qi.

The ringing at the door surprised Wei. He’d ordered take-out from Chin’s, but it’d only been about twenty minutes and he thought for sure he’d have time for a quick shower before they arrived. He belted on his robe, leaving his wet hair uncombed, and opened the door. “Hey, you’re…oh. Uh, hi?”

Mako was standing there, glaring down at him. Without waiting to be invited in, he shoved past into the flat. “You and I need to have a little chat.”

“Oh sure, just come right on in why don’t you?” The man was not looking happy. To be fair, he had one of those faces that always looked pissed off about something, but right now he looked actively pissed off instead of his usual just mildly pissed off. He was a Beifong, and a damn good bender, but he tried to avoid being on Mako’s bad side. He’d seen Mako in action and he was not a man to fuck around with.

“I’ve got a few things to say to you.” Mako stood there in the middle of his living room, looking like murder had come to call. For the life of him he couldn’t think what the fuck he’d done to him! Had he somehow upset Wu? Mako was real touchy when it came to Wu. He might have irritated his Aunt Lin but she would have come for his ass herself. She didn’t need Mako to do it for her as he damn well knew from painful experience.

“You want to take off your shoes…” Mako’s glare intensified. “Okay, or maybe not.” He shut the door and raised his hands in surrender. “Look, I’m not sure what I did-”

“I’m here to discuss Qi.”

He blinked at that. Qi? Had he pissed off Qi? He couldn’t imagine Qi would have told Mako about it; for one thing Qi wasn’t much for expecting others to take care of their business, never mind actually talking about it. For another, he’d gotten the distinct impression that Qi was more than a little intimidated by Mako. Who wasn’t, right? In Qi’s case, however, they mostly avoided Mako as much as possible.

“Uh…okay?”

Mako pointed his finger at him. “Listen, I don’t give a fuck where you dip your wick, but you leave off of Qi.”

“I…what? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t try that innocent bullshit with me, Beifong!” Mako stepped forward then.

“I swear! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Oh fuck, the man was coming straight at him. Before he had the sense to get out of the way Mako grabbed the lapels of his robe and slammed him up against the sliding glass door to his balcony. “What the fuck!” His voice rose and cracked as his feet lost contact with the floor. “Mako!”

Mako thumped him up against the glass and he grunted as his head smacked with a painful thud. “I’m not fucking around.”

“Yeah! I get that! Fuck!” He tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he had a good grip on him and he wasn’t about to poke the sleeping armadillo bear by bending his way out. “I swear I don’t know what you mean. I swear it on my mother’s honor!”

Those orange eyes were boring into his. “I am talking about you fucking Qi.”

“What?” He sagged in surprise. Is that what this was about? “Mako, no. No, listen, it’s not like that-”

“I know what you get up to. And I don’t give a shit if you want to treat the rest of the male population of Republic City like easily fucked garbage, but I’m not having you treat Qi like that.” He slammed his head into the glass again. “You hear me?”

“Mako! I haven’t fucked Qi! It’s not like that!” His toes scrabbled for purchase. “I swear! On whatever you want!”

“Then how do you explain all the times you were sneaking up to Qi’s flat?”

“I wasn’t sneaking! I just visit there. Sorry I didn’t get your fucking permission first to step foot on your property!”

“What are you up to, then?”

“We talk! Have a smoke! Just hang out! I like Qi, but come on, Mako, it’s not like they’re my type!” Mako held him there for a few moments longer before stepping back and letting go of his robe. “What the actual fuck, Mako! You don’t just come into a man’s home and start trying to throw him out the window!”

“If I had wanted to throw you out the window you’d already be flying.” No fucking doubt there.

“I’m not in a romantic relationship with Qi.”

Mako scoffed. “You’ve never been in a romantic relationship with anyone. We all know you’re a fuck ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy.”

That hurt him, although he tried not to let it show. Something in his face must have given him away, though, because Mako sighed and propped a hand up on his hip, briefly closing his eyes. He felt along the back of his head for any bumps. “You’re a mean bastard, aren’t you?”

Mako just shrugged at that, but he stepped away from the window. He didn’t bother to deny it.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “For the record, I’m not anything but Qi’s friend. I don’t want to fuck them, and I’m pretty sure they don’t want to fuck me.” Point of fact, he was pretty sure Qi was desperately in love with Wu, but he wasn’t going to betray their trust in him by telling anyone. No matter what Mako thought of him.

“You expect me to believe that.” A single eyebrow rose up at that, and he wanted nothing more to punch him in the face.

“You know what? I don’t give a fuck what you believe. Is it that shocking that either Qi or I could want a friend?” His lip curled up in a sneer. “Or is it that you don’t consider either one of us human that way? I mean, what could I possibly want out of someone if I wasn’t going to fuck them, right? Good old Wei Beifong. There’s nothing more to him than bending and fucking.” He could feel the tears starting and he wiped at them angrily. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of him.

Mako pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Look, it’s just that Qi’s under my protection.”

He couldn’t help himself; his mouth dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me? Have you seen what they can do with a knife?” Did Mako actually think Qi was defenseless?

Mako waved that off. “Qi could cut your throat before you even knew they were there. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about how vulnerable Qi is.” He sighed again. “Look, I get that Qi wants to be self-sufficient. I don’t doubt they can physically defend themselves.” A snort. “I would not fuck with that kid.” He met Wei’s eyes. “I’m not talking about that. Qi’s street smart, yeah. But they don’t know shit about relationships or love. And to be frank, I don’t want you to be the one to teach them.”

He felt like he’d been slapped. “Fuck you!” Mako just shrugged at that and said nothing. “I’m not…I don’t give a shit what you think about me” and that was a lie, but never mind in the moment “but don’t come into my home and accuse me of shit I haven’t done. I haven’t fucked Qi, I am never going to fuck Qi, and if we’re friends it’s none of your fucking business.”

Mako grimaced. “Yeah, that’s what Wu said.” He crossed his arms. “Look, I like you-”

“You do?”

That actually got him a bit of a smile. “Yeah, you’re okay. But here’s the deal. I don’t know all of Qi’s background.” He frowned at this. “But I know what living on the streets is like. It makes you hard, yeah. You learn how to fight, how to survive. What you don’t learn, however, is trust. Or love.” He looked past him, out to the view from his balcony. “I just don’t want Qi to get hurt that way, okay? They’ve been hurt enough.”

He stared at Mako. This, of all things, was not what he expected. “Uh, okay.” Was Mako actually admitting he cared?

“Just…be a good friend. Don’t fuck them over. And don’t fuck them, either, because if you do I will come for you. You got me?”

“Spirits, Mako!”

His eyes narrowed. “I said, you got me?”

“Yes! Fuck’s sake! I got you, I got you!”

“You better.” Mako looked like he was going to say more, but the doorbell rang again.

“That’s my dinner, I think.”

Mako grunted, and pointed. “Go put some pants on. I’ll get the door.”

By the time he’d thrown on a pair of pants Mako had paid the delivery guy and set the food on his table, sniffing at one of the cartons suspiciously.

“What do I owe you?” Mako just waved that off.

“Don’t you ever cook? You don’t have anything but tea and booze over here.”

“What, do you think my mother taught me how to cook? Not really her thing.”

“I bet not.” He poked at one of the cartons and then shrugged. “You really want to eat this?”

“What, you don’t like Chin’s?”

“Sure I do. But LoLo’s making gingered picken tonight.”

“Oh.” His stomach choose that moment to rumble loudly. “Huh.”

Mako shook his head. “Go finished getting dressed. I’ll put these in your icebox.” At his look he scowled. “What, you don’t want gingered picken?”

“Well yeah I want it!”

“You might want to put the rest of your clothes on, then. And comb your hair while you’re at it.”

“Who are you, my mother?”

“You’re a real mama’s boy, you know that?” Mako smirked. “Go get dressed.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t already know,” he shot back, but he was smiling as he went to go find a shirt.


	18. A Sodden Impertinence: Bob Scares Wu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That fucking Bob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a mention in You Take The Bitter With The Sweet. Requested by MizK!

He'd just finished giving Cork instructions to start disjointing the dinner pickens when Lin came through the back door, dark smudges under her eyes, looking as weary as he'd ever seen her. She wasn't going to make it to her retirement next month if she didn't start taking better care of herself. She'd only had tea for breakfast; if he knew the woman then he'd lay yuan she hadn't managed anything else for the rest of the day, either.

"Stole the silver yet?" she threw Cork's way, but the boy just gave her a grin, cleaver slamming down with enthusiasm. There wasn't much you could do to Cork that he wouldn't manage without a smile and more than a little cheek; Qi could take take a few notes. Ah, his poor, furious little Qi. What was he going to do with them?

"Well now, old girl, you look like you've been run over by a train." That got him a sour look, although she didn't deny it. "Why don't you take a seat and let me get you something."

"I can get it myself, you know." She crouched down to greet Meili, happily banging two wooden spoons together in the little pen he'd set up to keep her from underfoot. "Making a lot of noise, I see." Meili beamed at her and babbled happily, stretching her arms up to be held. Lin Beifong, who liked to think of herself as the most hardened bitch in Republic City, reached in and picked her up, her face gentling like it always did around the baby. That was Meili's gift. Even former President Raiko had cooed at her, and that man was as foul as they came. "So what have you been up to today, hmm? Anything useful? Or just sitting around looking cute?" Baby-talk, Lin Beifong style.

"She's gettin' to runnin' around right fast, Boss Lady." He noted that Cork was still paying attention to what he was doing. Good thing: he'd hate for the boy to take a finger off. "That's why Mr. LoLo had to put her in there."

Lin shot him a scowl over the Boss Lady, but merely grunted before sitting down at the table, Meili perched on her lap. "Where's everyone?"

He put a tea cup in front of her before grabbing a bowl, ladling up some of the dumpling soup they'd had for lunch. "Qi's off getting Naoki from school, took Zhi along. His Nibs is upstairs, I think." He gave the baby a piece of hardtack before giving Lin her soup; she'd try to stick her fingers into it otherwise. The girl did like to play with anything liquid. Waterbender, or he'd chew off of his own foot. "Speaking of, why are you home early? Not that I mind." He swung in to kiss her cheek, deftly avoiding her retaliatory smack in return. Cork's grin broadened.

"Song kicked me out. Told me that he had things in hand and that I should go home and get some sleep." She sniffed, taking up her spoon. "Guess I'm just a fucking nuisance nowadays."

He wiped his hands off on a towel and threw it over one shoulder. "Well, the nerve of the man. Not wanting you to spend twenty hours a day down there, making it look like you don't trust in his leadership when he's taking over for you."

"Hmph." Now he got the full force of that scowl. Formidable, but all it did was make him want to take her right back to the bedroom, dinner be damned. "Whose side are you on anyhow?"

"Oh, I think you-" A terrified scream burst through the house, shrill and piercing, trailing off ominously. Lin was up in less than a heartbeat, spoon clattering to the table. Without a word, she thrust the baby at him, practically flying out of the kitchen, her face grim. "Shit."

"Hey, was that Yer Highness?" Cork's eyes were wide, his fingers finally still. "Is he..." 

"I don't know, but I want you to come on over here next to me, Cork." He gestured him over with his free hand, holding Meili close. She was still gnawing on the hardtack. "We'll let Lin handle it."

"That was a bad scream, Mr. LoLo." Cork swallowed, getting as close to him as he possibly could, cleaver still in his hand. He put a hand on his shoulder.

"Put that down, son, and take the baby for me." 

"Yessir." Cork took Meili as he took a stance, arms and legs ready, despite his knee's scream of protest. He might not be much of a firebender, but he wouldn't let anyone near the baby.

"Vaatu's pus-filled withered dick! Bob, you greasy little shitstain, get the fuck out of here before I send your crusty orange asshole back to the spirit world where it belongs!" 

 _Pus-filled withered dick,_ Cork mouthed, grinning despite himself.

"Ah, she's cussing. That means all is well." He shook his head, chuckling a little.

"Yeah?" 

"Oh yeah." He strained to hear what was going on upstairs; he could hear Wu's indignant voice and the low murmur of Lin's response before silence and then the sound of her heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. She was an agile woman, Lin Beifong; could move as fast as lightning but every time her foot landed it sounded like the earth was shuddering. Earthbenders. Back into the kitchen she strode, smoke practically coming out of her ears.

"That fucking asshole Bob."

"Is Wu okay?"

"Oh, he's fine. Just got startled, although I guess we should all be grateful that if someone ever does actually try to kill him again his lungs still work." Her grunt turned into a guffaw. 

"You mean Bob that lives in the backyard?" Cork was still holding on to Meili, who was chewing away, big blue eyes unconcerned with all the kerfuffle. 

"Yes, the little fucker. Apparently he snuck in there when Wu was in the shower, waited until he was coming out to whistle at him." She massaged at her forehead, taking in a deep breath. "Damn near scared the shit out of the man, and I mean that literally. By the time I got up there he was buck naked, dripping wet, holding Bob off with his hairbrush." She cringed down, gesturing with an imaginary hairbrush, her voice going higher, complete with a plummy accent. "I will thank you to vacate my private bathroom, you devious ingrate!" She dropped down back down into a chair, shaking her head, scoffing. "Fuck me, talk about awkward. I'm too old for this shit. I need a drink." She whipped around to point a finger at Cork. "Breathe a word of this to anyone and I'll have your guts for garters."

"No ma'am!" Cork was grinning, though, handing Meili to her as she held out her arms.

"Your father screams like a hog monkey in heat." She tweaked Meili's nose. "Damn near gave me a fucking heart attack. I could kill him. After I kill Bob, that is." She turned her head towards the windows overlooking the garden and raised her voice. "You stay the hell out of his bedroom, Bob! I know you can hear me! Don't make me have to call the Avatar, because you know I will!"

He handed her the tot of whiskey he'd poured her, laughing. "All those years serving on a naval cruiser and it was nothing compared to the shenanigans that go on in this house on a daily basis."

"This fucking house," she said, and swallowed the whiskey in two gulps. "That fucking Bob." She grunted. "That fucking Wu," she sniffed, but kissed the baby's cheek to show she didn't mean it.

 


	19. A Sodden Runaway: Rohan Makes His Way Across The Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archiving a prompt meme from [Tumblr.](http://ourimpavidheroine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Rohan and Qi: _Reacting to the other one crying about something._

Qi paused at the bottom of the steps leading up to Qi’s flat above the garage, listening intently. Hard to gauge over the rain pounding down outside, but Qi was fairly sure Qi’d heard something in there. Qi eased in the door, nearly soundlessly, Qi’s hand sliding the knife down from the sheath on Qi’s opposite wrist.

It was sobbing. Someone was crying, and trying to stifle it. Qi pushed the knife back up until it clicked into place. Qi moved silently in the dimness of the unlit garage, easing around Mako’s car to see a huddled shape curled up in on itself, arms wrapped around its knees. Qi instantly recognized the airbending wingsuit. 

“It’s pretty cold in here. You wet?”

The figure startled and jerked, turning up a tear-stained face. It was Rohan, the youngest of the kids over on the Island.

“I...uh...” Rohan scrubbed at his face with his sleeves. “I wasn’t stealing anything.”

That got a little smile out of Qi. “I know you weren’t. You wet?”

Rohan blinked and tried to collect himself. His voice wobbled. “Um. A little bit, I think.”

“You think, huh? Come on.” Qi motioned with one hand.

“Where are we going?” Rohan stood up, already gangly tall at the age of thirteen, standing eye to eye with Qi. 

“Upstairs. You need a towel. Mebbe some tea. Come on.” Qi turned around and headed back out the door, climbing up the covered steps to the flat above the garage. Rohan trailed after, still sniffling. Qi toggled the lights as they came in, directing Rohan straight into the bathroom. “Take off them wet things, dry off with a towel. You can put on my robe. Don’t think it's to your style but I’ll fetch you somethin’ of LoLo’s later. Least it will be dry.”

Qi left him alone and Rohan shivered out of his wet wingsuit, trying to scrub some warmth into himself with the towel. Qi’s robe was aqua silk, patterned with birds and flowers in rainbow colors. It wasn’t anything like Qi’s usual uniform, plain and severe in dark gray and Rohan wasn’t sure what to make of it. By the time he came back out into Qi’s living room there was tea steeping. His stomach growled.

“Ain’t got much up here to eat, no need to, I always just go into the kitchen. You drink some tea, tell me what this is all about, then I’ll take you to LoLo, let him feed you. Your folks know where you at?”

Rohan shook his head miserably.

“Your Mama, she’s probably worried where you are.” Qi poured the tea into a beautiful cup, nodding Rohan towards the sofa before handing it over. “How’d you get over here anyhow?”

“Hid on the ferry,” said Rohan. He drank some of the tea, scalding his mouth a little. “I didn’t have any money to pay them. I don’t...I don’t have any money.”

“Well, you don’t fret about that. You can always pay ‘em back later.” Qi sat next to him, cradling a matching tea cup. “So. Why’d you run? You been in my garage all day?”

Rohan shook his head. “I walked around town for awhile, but I didn’t have any money and it started to rain and I was cold. I didn’t know where else to go. I asked someone where the park was, I remembered you lived across from Magnolia Park. They gave me directions and I started walking.”

“You walk across the bridge from town and everythin’? In the rain?”

Rohan nodded and drank some more tea.

Qi sighed. “Well next time, you get stuck, you call here, I’ll come get you. Okay? You just tell the operator you need to be callin’ Prince Wu, they’ll get it to us. You call me and I’ll come get you, no questions asked. That city, it ain’t all a safe place to be. I know you’re a good bender, but even still. It ain’t a good idea.”

Rohan’s eyes filled up again. “People were yelling things at me. Mean things.”

Qi grimaced. “Yeah, some people are real assholes. Well, you never mind all that. You’re safe now, okay?” Rohan started to sob again and Qi put a hand to his back, rubbing in soothing circles. “You had a bad day, no mistake. You have a fight with your Daddy or somethin’?”

Rohan’s eyes widened through the tears. “How did you know that?” he hiccuped.

Qi smiled, just a little. “Lucky guess. You want to talk about it? Get it off yer chest?”

“He’s not fair! By the time he was my age Meelo had been off by himself, had fought off the Colossus. He’d done all of these things and they don’t hardly ever let me off the Island, even!”

Qi nodded. “You don’t sound none too happy about that.”

“I want to do something! I never get to leave! And Jinora’s always too busy and Ikki left,” this got another sob, “and Meelo and Dad fought and fought until Uncle Bumi took him away to the Southern Air Temple. I train and I train every day and that’s it. There’s no one to talk to and nothing to do but meditate. Dad says that my goal is to be the best airbender I can be, but I don’t know why he cares. He’s too busy with all the other airbenders. The new airbenders, I mean. He doesn’t have any time for me anyhow.” Rohan raised his forearms to scrub at his eyes but realized at the very last second that he had on Qi’s robe. Qi handed him over a handkerchief. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Your yellin’ don’t hurt me none. Sometimes it’s best to get it all out.”

“It’s just...I’m not a _baby_. I want to _do_ something.”

“Like what?”

Rohan looked taken aback. “I..I don’t know. _Something_.”

Qi stared at Rohan for a long moment. “Mebbe you can come over here some. I’ll talk to Mako ‘bout it. I know he’ll agree. He can talk to your folks, they don’t know me.”

“I could come over here?”

“Visit a little. Give you a change of scenery. It’s not adventure, but it’s somethin’, at least.”

Rohan’s face brightened. “Maybe I could even stay over?”

Qi winked. “We gotta guest room and everythin’.” Qi stood up and collected Rohan’s tea cup. “You go on now, give your face a good wash. Hang up that wet suit of yours if you haven’t done it already. I’ll sneak you in the back so’s you can put on somethin’ of LoLo’s before the Butterfly catches you in that and teases you ‘bout it. LoLo was makin’ buns this afternoon, I bet they’re ready.”

Rohan stood fidgeting for a moment. “Thank you, Qi.”

“For what?”

“Being so nice to me. For not making fun.”

“Thirteen ain’t an easy thing to be. I remember. You’re a nice kid, Rohan. A nice kid who had a bad day. It happens. Now go on, wash that face and we’ll get LoLo to feed you up.”

“Okay!” Rohan dashed back into the bathroom. Qi took both cups into the kitchen and rinsed them, humming a little under Qi’s breath.


	20. A Caliginous Contemplation: How Soon Is Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set right after Qi tells Mako that Qi was not aware of the Royalist connection in the middle of Chapter Seven of [A Song Of Spring And Autumn.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4284207?view_full_work=true)
> 
> Qi sits in the dark.

Well, at least I won't have Mako on my ass about the damn Royalists. I try to avoid being on his bad side. Not that he's a man that goes towards violence first or anything like that. Even still. All I need is for him to freeze me out, make things harder than they are. Not to mention I don't want to lose what regard he has for me.

He would have never appreciated Wu the way Wu was today, though. The Wu I saw today didn't need anyone's protection, and Mako, he lives and breathes to protect what he considers his.

I'm not sure if he considers me his. Does it matter? I guess he considers me Wu's, so it's all the same in the end.

I can't believe I told Wu that thing about the doll. I don't know what came over me. I don't, I really don't. Stupid of me. Not that he didn't feel for me, I know he did. He always feels for everyone, wears his heart on his sleeve. I could tell him things, I know I could, he'd never laugh at me or dismiss me, I know him well enough by now to know that.

He'd pity me, though, and I don't want to see pity in his eyes. I don't want him to pity me. I know he won't love me the way I want him to. I know it. I accept it. But I can't take it if he pities me.

I should go, I know I should go. Not just to work for Asami Sato, although it would be a good job and she'd be good to work for, I think. But it's not enough. I should leave the damn city, just go. I've got the yuan for it, I've been putting it all away since I started working for him and Mako showed me how to invest it. I wouldn't be rich or anything, but I could get myself a little place somewhere, open up a little shop, tinker with my engines. Or go the opposite way, go to another city, take on the embroidery work, I'm good enough with it that I'd get commissions. Not bragging, just the truth. Reinvent myself. Again. 

Who would I be this time?

Not the child of a whore. Not the child that lived on the streets. Qi kept those things because I couldn't leave them behind me, couldn't read or write, could only transform myself a little. And anyhow, I was just a child. But now? Can't fix the voice, nothing I can do about that, but it could be due to childhood sickness instead of being damn near strangled to death. I could have a mother and a father, a whole family. Grandparents. And if that imaginary family looked a little bit like the one I live with now, who would know? I can read and write now. I can speak without the accent, I've lived for years with all of them, I could sound like Wu if I wanted to.

People will believe whatever they see. Dress like a man? That's what they'll see. Dress like a woman? That's what they'll see as well. Move in a certain way, walk and talk and sit in the ways they expect and they'll never question you. You can fade into the background, you can become invisible, keep your head down, stay low, keep to the shadows.

Until the day you can't take it any longer and you borrow a damn car to take it for a spin and you get caught. Stupidest thing I've ever done. Should have known I was going to get caught. Broke my own rules and look what's come of it? He showed up in that green suit and he fed me and looked me in the eyes and smiled at me, asked me my name, listened to me when I spoke. Welcomed me into his world, that strange world of princes and Avatars and wealth and eccentricities. The man rode a badgermole and tore up half the train tracks. If he'd been someone like me they'd have put him away for being crazy. But princes aren't crazy, just eccentric. Big difference. Always good to keep it in mind.  

I should have said no when he tossed me those keys. I should have walked away, even if it had meant a little prison time. Gone back to being anonymous. People on the street left me alone, a few quick slashes with my knife and they learned soon enough not to fuck with Qi. I can't say I was happy, but I lived my life on my own terms.

How could I say no? I was already half in love with him, people who tell you there's no such thing as love at first sight have never felt it. There is. Might not be the love you were hoping for, might not be a love you get returned, might not be a love that lasts, but it's real, and it's not just about wanting to fuck somebody, either. It happens. It did to me.

Now, all these years later, how could I leave? Leave little Zhi, with all of his questions, with his desperate need to be reassured and cared for? I love that boy. Oh, I love the girls as well, love Naoki's fight and fire and sass, and who doesn't love that sweet Meili? Everybody loves Meili. But that boy, he wants so much to connect, and the other kids, they tease him, don't understand him. He sounds like a damn adult, he's got no idea how to connect to kids his own age. I was never smart like that, but I know how it feels to be on the outside, always looking in. He asked me, once, if I knew why his mother would just abandon him the way she did, and I wanted to cry right then and there. _Oh baby,_ I told him, _Sometimes mothers, they can't manage things. Sometimes they die, sometimes life just takes them over. Sometimes life is just too hard for people, they can't go on living in it. But your Mama, she carried you for all those months, she gave you life. You'll never know why she left you there, but you'll always know she gave herself to create you. She lives in you._ And that boy, he crawled right into my lap and wrapped his arms around me and cried and cried. I let him, too, because who ever cared enough about me to hold me when my heart was breaking? Only Drunk Una, and only when she wasn't passed out on the floor. Which wasn't that often.

Wu would have held me when I was telling him about the doll. I could see he wanted to, but he kept his hands to himself because I'm so standoffish. I can't. I can't let him hold me. I don't know what I'd do - kiss him? Beg him to love me back? I'd just end up horrifying both of us and ruining everything.

Why did I take his hands? I'm such a damn fool. So soft, his hands, he's never done a day's hard work in his life. Those hands, they don't want to touch me, not in the way I want them to.

He put his arms around me and for one second, just one, I pretended like it was because he wanted me and not just because he's impulsive and hugs everyone. 

I should go.

I should go. 

I hate myself for not going.

I hate Wu for loving me but not loving me the way I want him to.

I hate Mako for knowing how I feel about his husband and for just letting it be. I hate him for sometimes coming into my dreams with those big strong hands, I hate him for those times I wake up, burning and with nothing but my own hands to try to get me back to sleep. No one's ever touched me that way, not the way he does when I'm dreaming, and it hurts too much to wake up alone in that bed as always.

I hate Lin for her kindnesses to me, especially since I suspect she, more than any of the rest of them, understands me. 

I hate LoLo for always looking out for me, for making sure I'm cared for.

I hate Wei for his easy friendship, for never once trying to pry or expecting me to be anything I'm not.

I hate those children...no. No. I don't hate those children. I love those children.

I don't hate any of them. Not really. That's obvious, or why would I still be here? But I should go. I came out of the shadows today, and it's not safe for me. If I were smart I'd get on a train first thing tomorrow and just go wherever it took me, start all over again. But I've been telling myself that for years now, and look where I am.

I won't leave tomorrow. I'm too weak for that. I'll put on my armor and I'll go and attend a wedding of people who have always been nothing but kind to me. And I'll probably have a good time, those Beifongs, they know how to throw a party. Because I do have good times. My life, it's good. I have people who care about me now. I'm never cold or hungry, never alone unless I choose to be. I get to do the things I love. I can read and write, I can even manage to cook for myself now, thanks to LoLo. I've got money saved up, enough so I don't have to worry about my future. I go out with Wei sometimes, and it's fun. Every night I eat dinner with that family and I'm loved and included.

But I should go. Because one of these days, I'm going to accidentally let down my guard too much, and spirits know what will happen, because I don't. 

I shouldn't have gone to their bedroom. Wu told me he'd tell Mako and I know he would have, he keeps his word. Why did I do it? I'm slipping, I need to be more careful.

I know who I am. I live who I am, even if I don't share it with everyone else. I don't apologize for who I am and I never will. I'm me. Even if that means no one else wants me. I'm never going back to being someone I'm not, just to make it easier for other people to put me in a nice little box that has never felt right to me. I won't do it.

I'm so lonely, though. I am sick to damn death of being so lonely. How is it that I can sit in a room of people and still feel alone? Why do I stick around?

I should go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember distinctly the first time I heard that opening guitar riff of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" Johnny Marr somehow managed to put all of the loneliness I was feeling - and had always felt - into a single sound. It sounded like someone was sobbing. And then the lyrics!
> 
> I knew this was Qi's song from the moment Qi appeared on the page.


End file.
